


Lumpy’s Sniffly Adventures

by sarahgirl1998



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Comedy, Comfort No Hurt, Cute, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sneezes and Tickles, Sneezing, Sniffles, Tickling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998
Summary: Lumpy comes down with a rare variant of the sniffles that’s said to last quite a while once it’s caught. There’s only one thing the poor moose can do - cope with the sniffly illness with help from his friends.Some sneezes included, although most of them are induced by things other than Lumpy’s virus.
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

Lumpy stood on a stage, standing next to a TV. He was wearing a tuxedo with a bow tie, allowing someone to dab his nose with a powder puff. His nose was a bit red, however, and twitched a few times as his nostrils flared.

“Ah... Hah-choo!” Lumpy gave a mild sneeze, expelling a bit of the powder from his nose and blowing the powder puff off from it, and then rubbed his nose with his forefinger. “You might want to go easy on the powder.”

“Sorry. And bless you,” the person holding the puff said.

Lumpy continued to rub his nose, sniffling as he turned to look at the camera. It was time to begin. As the camera began to record, Lumpy pulled his hand away from his nose, then cleared his throat and spoke.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” said Lumpy. “And welcome to Lumpy’s Sniffly Adventures. I’m your host, Lumpy.”

Another sniffle. Lumpy placed his forefinger underneath his nose for another cute rub.

“And wouldn’t you know it, I’ve got a little sniffle. Isn’t that funny?”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a light blue handkerchief and wiped his nose politely with it. Then he turned back to the camera.

“This is the story of my experience with a chronic case of the sniffles,” Lumpy said, “or as Sniffles calls them, chronic sniffles.” He sniffled again. “Not to worry, though; my friends and I have ways of coping with it, even if I have to make myself sneeze or let someone make me sneeze every once in a while.” He brought his hand up to tell the camera a secret. “I don’t sneeze from the sniffles.”

“Anyway, I hope you guys stick around and enjoy the show, because even if it makes you feel bad for me, everything will work out one way or another. Now let’s go.”

He switched on the TV, which displayed a countdown from 9. As Lumpy waited for it to finish, he sniffled again, rather loudly. Realizing the audience was still watching and had presumably caught that sniff, he covered his nose with his hanky, blushing sheepishly. He wasn’t really embarrassed; he was imagining the audience laughing in amusement.

“I think I could use a box of tissues,” Lumpy said with a nervous chuckle.

Finally the countdown was over, and it began.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a cool, clear morning in the forest where the Happy Tree Friends lived, and the sun was just coming up from the horizon. The stars slowly disappeared as the sky changed its color from dark blue to a much lighter shade. Before long, you could hear the birds chirping wherever you went.

In one of the houses in the forest, Lumpy was still sleeping in his bed. As the rays of sunshine reached his face, however, he slowly opened his eyes. He sat up in bed, eyes still half closed. He gave a deep yawn into his hand, and then rubbed his eyes gently with his fists.

“Oh, it’s morning,” Lumpy acknowledged quietly. He lowered the covers from his body, then sat on the edge of his bed before he stepped off.

Just then, the insides of his nose felt a bit stuffed up - or perhaps they were runny. Lumpy sniffled a couple of times, but that didn’t do anything to help. He reached his hand up to rub his nose, but it still felt like something was wrong with it. But what was it?

Lumpy went over to his mirror to take a look. He saw that his eyes had bags underneath them, and the end of his nose was a bright red shade. Lumpy looked a bit surprised, but then frowned. He could already tell that he’d come down with something.

Lumpy turned away from the window and made his way to the bathroom, still taking a few breaths through his nose. Once he was in the bathroom, he took a shower to wash and warm himself up. He then dried himself with the warmest towels he could find before he looked into the mirror once more. His nose was still red; the steam and hot water hadn’t done anything to his nasal passages.

Lumpy blew his nose into a tissue, then took the thermometer and placed it underneath his tongue. He couldn’t help but sniffle some more as he took his temperature. Sometimes he brought his tissue back up to his nose for a wipe or several.

When the thermometer had finally finished and he took it out, he looked a bit skeptical. “Ninety-eight? That’s strange...”

He put away the thermometer and then made his way out of the bathroom, throwing his tissue away as he did so. Lumpy made his way down the stairs, giving one loud sniff after another.

“Ugh. Looks like I have the sniffles...” Lumpy lamented.

He made his way into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Then he sat at the table and drank every drop. It had a strong and sweet flavor, but at least it would help him feel better. Lumpy smacked his lips, then inhaled through his nose again. Still nothing.

After he’d placed his cup in the dishwasher, Lumpy went into the living room. As he sniffled some more, he tried to think of a way to relieve his sniffles. Maybe a sneeze would help.

Lumpy walked over to his desk and opened it up, revealing his white quill feather. He lifted it out of its inkwell and held it underneath his nose. Slowly, he rotated the feather in a circle, a chill running down his spine as he felt the tickle. His nostrils flared to twice their normal size.

After a long minute, Lumpy gave a rather anticlimactic, “Ah-choo!”

Not only did the sneeze not provide Lumpy’s nose with any relief, but made it feel like running even more. Lumpy rubbed his nose rather hard with his forefinger, then put his quill back in his desk. He went over to one of his tissue boxes, pulled out a tissue and blew his nose loudly into it. It didn’t do anything to help, either, so he wiped his nose a few times afterward.

“It’s probably gonna be a few dozen sneezes before I feel better...” Lumpy said to himself. “Might as well just blow and wipe my nose a lot.”

He picked up the box, went over to the couch and sat down on it. He sniffled at least once every few seconds, still keeping his box on his lap in case he needed to wipe his nose some more.

“I should probably talk to Sniffles about this,” Lumpy thought. “He’s the one who knows how to treat and cure illnesses, so maybe he can make my sniffles better.”

With another snuffle, Lumpy rubbed the back of his hand underneath his nose. It still wasn’t helping, so he knew what he needed to do. He needed to visit Sniffles and ask him for a way to treat the sniffles.

Lumpy got up from his couch and put his tissue box back where he’d gotten it. Then he picked up one of his freshly laundered handkerchiefs and placed it in his pocket. It wasn’t long after before he’d opened the front door and headed out of his house.

It was a lovely day outside; the sun was shining, the sky was a beautiful blue color, and it was pleasantly warm. Lumpy inhaled and sighed, a bit unhappy. Why did he have to fall ill on such a nice day?

As Lumpy made his way to Sniffles’ house, he continued to sniffle, rubbing his nose every few seconds. His nose probably couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be runny or stuffy. He could pull out his handkerchief and blow his nose a few times, but he still wouldn’t feel a lot of relief.

After a few minutes, however, Lumpy had made it to Sniffles’ house. He stood in front of the door and pressed his forefinger against the doorbell. It wasn’t long after that the door opened to reveal Sniffles.

“Oh, hi, Lumpy!” Sniffles said, smiling as he recognized Lumpy.

“Hey, Sniffles.” Lumpy sniffled again.

“How are you on this lovely morning?” Sniffles wanted to know.

“Not bad,” Lumpy claimed, “although I’ve been better.” Another sniffle, followed by a cute nose-rub with his forefinger.

“Oh, really?” Sniffles raised an eyebrow, seeing why Lumpy had said that. “Hmm, your nose does look a bit red.”

“Yeah.” Lumpy pulled out his handkerchief, then wiped it underneath his nose. His sniffling continued.

“Sounds like you’ve caught a cold, Lumpy,” Sniffles stated, but Lumpy shook his head in disagreement.

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“And why wouldn’t you?” Sniffles asked.

Lumpy gave another snuffle and decided to give Sniffles a hint, rather than telling him directly. “What’s one thing I would be doing if I had a cold?”

Sniffles thought, then came up with an answer. “You’d be sneezing, wouldn’t you?”

“Yep.” Lumpy sniffed. “But I’ve only sneezed once today, and not from being sick.”

Sniffles continued to think about what was going on, and then came to a conclusion based on Lumpy’s dialogue.

“Lumpy?” Sniffles started, “have you caught the sniffles?”

Lumpy nodded, then sniffled once again. It sounded particularly wet, so he blew his nose for a moment into his handkerchief. Then he wiped his nose a few times.

“Yeah, I definitely have the sniffles...” Lumpy said.

“To think I could have figured that out immediately,” Sniffles told himself.

“I was wondering if you could find a way to treat them,” Lumpy went on.

“Oh, of course, Lumpy,” said Sniffles. “Why don’t you come into my lab?”

He moved out of the way so that Lumpy could come inside, and Lumpy did so. Then he followed him into the lab, with Lumpy audibly inhaling through his nose a few times.

Soon they were in Sniffles’ lab. Sniffles picked up a thermometer and placed it under Lumpy’s tongue. As they waited for his temperature to be taken, Lumpy sometimes brought his forefinger up to rub his poor nose.

When the thermometer had finished, Sniffles took it out and looked at it.

“Hmm. A hundred and one.” Sniffles showed the thermometer to Lumpy. “Looks like you have a fever with your sniffles, Lumpy.”

“That’s weird. When I took it this morning... *snf*... it was ninety-eight.”

“I suppose it didn’t happen until later,” Sniffles said. He put down the thermometer. “Does your nose feel runny or stuffy?”

Another sniff from Lumpy. “Sometimes it feels runny, and sometimes stuffy.” He rubbed underneath his nose with his hand.

“Yeah, it tends to switch between those when you have the sniffles,” said Sniffles. “Although...” He rubbed his chin a bit with his hand. “I think you may have something more... severe...”

“What do you mean?” Lumpy sniffled again.

“I have a feeling that your case of the sniffles might be different than most cases you’ve had,” Sniffles replied.

He went over to his microscope and turned it a bit, wanting to make sure he had a good view of the microbes he would examine. Then he walked over to a tissue box, pulled out a couple of tissues, and brought them over to Lumpy.

“Lumpy, would you blow your nose into this?” Sniffles asked, handing him one of the tissues. “But don’t wipe it just yet; I’ll have to look at what’s on it afterward.”

Lumpy nodded and, indeed, blew his nose, causing the edges of the tissue to flutter. Then he handed the tissue back to Sniffles, who gave him the other one in response. As Lumpy wiped his nose with the clean tissue, Sniffles went back to his microscope and picked up the eyedropper. He sucked up a bit of the mucus from Lumpy’s used tissue, then squirted onto the slide as he took a look.

“Hmm...” said Sniffles.

He pulled out a book and flipped through a few pages before he got to the one he was looking for. He looked at the pictures on the pages, then back into the microscope. Suddenly his eyes widened and pupils shrunk as it came upon him.

“Oh, my!”

“What is it, Sniffles?” Lumpy asked, tissue under his nose.

“You may want to come here and look,” Sniffles replied.

The sniffly moose did as he was told, rubbing his nose delicately with his forefinger. Sniffles moved out of the way, and Lumpy looked through the microscope.

“Whoa. What are these?” he asked.

“Those are viruses. They’re very, very little germs that can cause you to get sick,” Sniffles explained.

Lumpy pulled his eye away from the microscope. “Well, they sure do look yucky.” Another sniff.

“But there’s an important difference between these germs and the ones that can cause the sniffles,” said Sniffles.

“What?” Lumpy asked.

“The germs I found on the tissue you blew your nose into,” Sniffles told him, “are the viruses that cause... the chronic sniffles.”

Lumpy gasped and placed his hand over his mouth. “Chronic sniffles?!”

Sniffles nodded, and then picked up the book and showed the pages to him. They were displaying a picture of the virus Sniffles was talking about, and there were paragraphs of text that talked about it.

“This virus is stronger than the virus that causes the sniffles,” Sniffles started. “It has the ability to infect people with the sniffles, but their cases will last far longer than a week.”

“Oh, my...” Lumpy looked a bit worried. He gave another snuffle as Sniffles put down the book and quoted the facts he’d read from it.

“Thankfully, it’s not serious or deadly; it simply hangs out in your body for a while until it decides it’s ready to be defeated,” Sniffles went on. “It won’t make you sneeze, either, perhaps because it’d be called a chronic cold if it did.”

“That’s a relief, I guess... and at the same time, kind of bad news.” Lumpy wiped his nose a few times with his hand. “How am I supposed to make my nose feel better if I’m not sneezing?”

“I know,” Sniffles replied in sympathy. “On the plus side, you can still sneeze; just not from your sickness.”

“Oh, good.” Another sniffle from Lumpy. “But how long do you think I’ll have the chronic sniffles?”

Sniffles looked in his book for an answer to that question.

“I’m afraid once the chronic sniffles is caught, nobody knows how long it lasts,” said Sniffles. “You could have the sniffles for two weeks, a month, two months... or even over a year!”

Lumpy gasped again, his eyes wide with horror. “Even my birthday?!”

Sniffles nodded sadly, turning Lumpy’s mood from horrified to sad.

“Oh, no... This can’t be...” Lumpy whimpered.

But Sniffles reached over and gave him a hug to make him feel better. When he felt it happen, Lumpy looked down at his friend and hugged him as well. After a few seconds, his sadness steadily went away, and he smiled a little. Soon they let go, and Lumpy wiped a tear from his eye with his forefinger.

“Phew. Thank you, Sniffles,” he thanked his friend. “I almost started crying.”

“I’m happy to cheer you up, Lumpy,” Sniffles reassured him. “The best thing to do when you have the chronic sniffles is to make the most of them. A few hours of rest each day never hurts, but it’ll get better someday.”

Lumpy smiled at him, then pulled out his handkerchief and gave his nose another small blow. He then wiped the hanky around on his nose, which made Sniffles giggle a bit.

“How would you like me to make you sneeze, Lumpy?” the anteater suggested.

Lumpy nodded. “Yes, please. Anything to give my nose some relief.”

Sniffles went over to his desk and began to rummage through his things, looking for something to induce a sneeze with. Finally he found a feather, a light gray one from the wing of a bird he’d seen outside, and picked it up.

“Look, Lumpy,” Sniffles said playfully as he went back over to Lumpy, “Mr. Feather wants to help you feel better.”

Lumpy couldn’t help but giggle; he secretly loved when his friend said things like this. “Gee, I hope he does.”

Sniffles held the feather underneath Lumpy’s nostrils and began to wiggle it back and forth. Lumpy couldn’t help but smile as his nose tickled, and his snout began to twitch about. In fact, he even giggled a bit.

“Hehehe, it tickles!”

Hearing that made Sniffles blush. He couldn’t help himself, he loved when Lumpy said his feathers or hands tickled him.

“Does it make you sneezy?” Sniffles wanted to know.

“A little, yeah...” Lumpy sniffled a bit, but then his nostrils began to flare up as his pupils darted about his eyes.

Knowing what was going to happen, Sniffles pulled his feather away and watched. Lumpy lowered his eyelids as he improvised a buildup, tilting his upper body backward.

“Ah... Ah... Aaah... Choo!”

Finally Lumpy doubled over as he released a small sneeze, without any spray coming out of his mouth. It did feel kind of good to let out the sneeze, however; not to mention, it sounded adorable. Sniffles giggled as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

“Bless you, Lumpy!” said Sniffles.

“Thank you.” Lumpy gave a loud sniff and continued to rub his nose.

Sniffles handed him a tissue, which Lumpy blew his nose into for three seconds. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Not that much, actually.” Lumpy wiped his nose, moving the tissue back and forth. “It’s okay, though; that sneeze felt good.”

“Well, I’m glad.” Just then, an idea came to Sniffles, and his eyes lit up. “Hmm...”

He held his feather up for Lumpy to see, and then turned it sideways and placed it on Lumpy’s belly. He began to move it around gently, which tickled him quite a bit.

“Hahaha, hahahahaha!” Lumpy twitched around a little, at one point bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. “That-- Haha, that tickles, too! Hahahaha!”

“I know!” Sniffles giggled a bit as he brought the feather up to Lumpy’s ribcage, which made him laugh even more.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Lumpy threw his head back as he laughed, then stepped back to stop the tickling. He held either sides of his ribcage, blushing and panting a few times.

Sniffles gave another cute giggle. “Aww. Are you too ticklish for Mr. Feather?”

Lumpy continued to blush. “No, I just didn’t want to laugh too hard,” he reasoned before he inhaled through his nose. “I am sick, after all.”

“Yes, you are,” Sniffles agreed, “even if you just have a severe sniffle. Not to worry. I’ll just remind Mr. Feather to play with you later.” As he spoke, he went back over to his desk to put his feather away.

Lumpy chuckled at his comment, and then shivered a little as he hugged his upper body. Seeing this, Sniffles decided what he needed was a blanket. He took Lumpy’s hand and walked him out of the lab, into the living room.

Sniffles picked up a large, red blanket and shook it a few times to air it out. Satisfied, he brought it over to Lumpy and placed it over his shoulders. Lumpy sighed with relief as he held the edges of the blanket with his hands, feeling warmer.

“Thanks, Sniffles,” Lumpy thanked him.

“Why don’t you lie down on the couch?” Sniffles offered.

Lumpy decided that would be a good idea, so he sat down on the couch, then put his feet up onto it. He pulled the blanket away from his shoulders and placed it over his legs and tummy. He took another breath through his nose and sighed, feeling comfortable.

Sniffles then reached to the side, pulled out a white pillow and placed it behind Lumpy’s head. He pressed his hands against it a few times, not noticing as a single down feather came flying out of the pillow.

“You can have all the rest you’d like,” Sniffles said to Lumpy, who was smiling.

But as he finished his sentence, the feather from the pillow landed right on his trunk, causing it to twitch. As Lumpy looked at him in curiosity, Sniffles shut his eyes and tilted his neck back. He was about to sneeze.

“Ah, hah... Haaah-tchyu!” And just like that, the feather came flying off his trunk. Sniffles then opened his eyes and rubbed under his trunk with his forefinger.

Lumpy chuckled a bit, hand over his mouth. “Bless you, Sniffles. Or Gesundheit, as you like to tell me when I sneeze.”

“Thanks,” Sniffles replied. “I guess I didn’t think that feather would tickle my trunk like that...” He chuckled as well and continued to rub his nose.

“Ah, it’s alright,” said Lumpy. “That happens to me a lot, too.” Another sniff.

Now that Sniffles’ trunk had been satisfied, the anteater pulled his hand away from it. He then took a box of tissues from the coffee table and placed it by Lumpy’s bedside.

“Would you like anything, Lumpy?” Sniffles wondered.

“I suppose a water would be nice, please,” Lumpy stated.

Sniffles left the living room for a moment, then returned moments later with a cold bottle of water. He handed it to Lumpy, and he removed the cap and quenched his thirst.

“Thanks, Sniffles,” Lumpy told him when he was done.

Sniffles smiled at him. “Anything to help your sniffles feel better.”

Lumpy then took a couple of sniffles, which caused his nostrils to flare slightly. He pulled a tissue out from his box and blew his nose, then wiped it with the tissue. Sniffles couldn’t help but giggle; he liked seeing Lumpy use tissues or handkerchiefs when it came to wiping his nose.

Just then, Lumpy heard his smartphone ring. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. When he looked at the screen, he could already tell someone was calling him. He pressed the talk button and spoke, while Sniffles kept quiet so he wouldn’t interrupt him.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Lumpy!” two near-identical voices greeted him in unison, almost catching him off-guard.

“Hey, Lifty and Shifty,” Lumpy replied. He sniffled once, hoping they didn’t hear that.

“How’s it going, buddy?” Lifty wanted to know.

“I’m alright,” Lumpy claimed, “though honestly, I don’t feel so good.” He gave another sniffle, proving his point.

“Oh, really?” Shifty replied. “What’s the matter, you got a cold?”

“More like the sniffles.” Another nasal inhale from Lumpy. He raised his tissue up to rub his nose, unbeknownst to the raccoons. “It’s not like the other sniffles I’ve had, though - this one lasts a lot longer. I’d say two weeks, maybe a year?”

“Oh, my gosh... I’m so sorry to hear that, Lumpy,” said Lifty. He sounded like he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, me too,” Shifty agreed.

“We were gonna ask if you wanted to come over and hang out or something,” Lifty went on.

“I‘ll come over soon,” Lumpy told them. “It’s not that I’m too tired, I just have to rest a little first. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, we understand. Take all the time you need,” Shifty advised.

“And one last thing,” said Lumpy, “do you guys have any tissues?”

“Hang on, let me check.” There was a brief pause. “Yeah, we got some extra boxes. Lifty told me he thought our allergies would be really bad this time of year, but they’re really not, so you can use as many as you want.”

“Good. Thanks, guys,” Lumpy replied with a smile. “See you in a few minutes, maybe an hour. Bye.”

Lumpy hung up and placed his smartphone back into his pocket. He then looked over at Sniffles, who had heard the entire conversation.

“You didn’t tell me you were gonna visit Lifty and Shifty for a while, Lumpy,” Sniffles stated.

Lumpy gave another snuffle. “Yeah, well, I didn’t think they’d call. But now that they did, I think I could use some time with them. And don’t worry, I’m not gonna let my sniffles ruin it.”

Sniffles smiled at the third thing he’d said. “I was going to tell you the same thing.”

Lumpy lowered the blanket from his body and stepped off the couch. He rubbed his nose gingerly with his arm - Sniffles didn’t see him do that very often - and pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his nose.

“Hope you feel better soon, Lumpy,” Sniffles said comfortingly. “I know you’ll still be sick by the time you’re finished, so feel free to come back any time.”

“Thank you, Sniffles.” Lumpy lowered his handkerchief from his face before he placed it back in his pocket.

Sniffles helped Lumpy make his way out of the house, then waved goodbye to him as he watched him go. As Lumpy headed off to Lifty and Shifty’s apartment, he kept sniffling and wiping his nose.

Even if his sniffles would last far longer than they had any right to be, Lumpy was going to make the most of them, one way or another.


	3. Chapter 3

“Ugh.”

Lumpy sniffled once, then twice, tilting his head back each time. He then rubbed underneath his nose with the back of his hand.

“Why did I have to come down with the chronic sniffles?” Lumpy wondered to himself. “I could’ve caught a regular sniffle instead... Well, at least it’s a nice day outside.”

Indeed, the sky above him was still a lovely light blue color, and there were flowers blooming everywhere. Lumpy picked a yellow one from the ground and held it to his nose, giving a light sniff. Immediately his snout twitched again, and he gave another small sneeze, dropping the flower as he did so.

“Aaah-tchew!”

Lumpy sniffled once more as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger. At least nobody had heard him sneeze, and besides, the flower had a lovely scent.

As he continued on his way to the raccoons’ apartment, Lumpy pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose a few times with it. It didn’t really clear his nose - and if it did, he couldn’t tell the difference - so he proceeded to wipe it repeatedly afterward. He could only hope that Lifty and Shifty wouldn’t mind helping him feel better.

Meanwhile, Lifty and Shifty were sitting on the couch in their living room. The two of them were having a conversation to pass the time while they waited for their friend.

“You know, I watched that What Makes You Hic episode at least twice this morning,” Lifty mentioned.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” said Shifty. “But have you seen the Harvey Girls Pepper Sneezes episode?”

“Excuse me, what?” Lifty couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. His eyes were wide and pupils were shrunken from hearing such a title.

“Yeah, there was an episode where they sneeze from pepper,” Shifty mentioned.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Shifty!” Lifty said.

“Nope, it’s real. I’ve only seen it once so far, but it was great. And aside from the sneezes, they even tried to stop each other from sneezing.” Shifty pulled out his smartphone. “And I kind of took some pictures of them doing that on my phone.” He then pulled up the Photos app with the tap of a button, and handed his phone to Lifty. “Wanna see them?”

Lifty took the phone and looked at the photos Shifty had taken. He hadn’t been lying; he’d taken one photo of Lotta stopping Dot’s sneeze, another of Audrey stopping Lotta’s sneeze, and finally, one of Dot stopping Audrey’s sneeze. They were all cute and rather amusing, but the third picture made Lifty laugh.

“Oh, my gosh, that’s amazing! Hahaha!” Lifty said, and then handed the phone back to Shifty. “We gotta show these to Lumpy when he gets here!”

“Yeah, I bet he’s gonna love watching that episode, too. And I can already tell you will, too.”

“I know! Oh, and can you send me that third picture with Dot and Audrey? I wanna set it as my wallpaper,” Lifty stated.

“Sure.” Shifty selected the picture that Lifty mentioned to him and sent it to him in a text message.

Not long after, Lifty’s phone vibrated. He pulled it out to open his text messages, then selected the picture and set it as his wallpaper. He then went to the home screen to see it.

“Ha! Thanks, bro, this looks great!” He showed it to Shifty, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Just then, the raccoons heard a knock on their front door. They made their way over to it, with Lifty putting his phone back in his pocket. Shifty placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it and pulled the door open.

“Hey, Lumpy,” he and Lifty greeted him.

“Hey, guys.” Lumpy sniffled again, but it was clear that he was as happy to see his friends as they were.

“Why don’t ya come on in?” Shifty moved out of the way so that Lumpy could come inside, and he did so.

“Thanks.” Lumpy went over to the couch and sat down on it, still sniffling as he did so. Lifty and Shifty sat on either side of him to give him some company.

“How’d you come down with your sniffles, Lumpy?” Lifty wanted to know.

“I really don’t know,” Lumpy replied. “I was fine yesterday, but when I woke up this morning, I just had it.”

“Oh, it’s alright. Most of us get sick like that,” said Shifty, “if you don’t count getting coughed or sneezed on.”

“Or getting too cold,” Lifty added.

“Yeah.” Lumpy sniffled again and rubbed his nose with his forefinger. “Ughh...”

“You need a tissue?” asked Lifty.

Lumpy nodded, and Lifty handed him one from the closest box he could find. After blowing his nose for one second, Lumpy wiped his nose.

“You know, even though you’ve got the sniffles, at least you don’t have something worse,” said Shifty, “like the Raccoon Sniffles.”

“Although that’s probably because you’re not a raccoon like we are,” Lifty replied.

Lumpy sniffled. “You’re right, I’m not.” He continued to wipe his nose with his tissue, looking cute as he did so.

“By the way, I changed my wallpaper to this picture Shifty sent me,” said Lifty. He pulled out his smartphone. “Wanna see it?”

“Sure,” Lumpy replied.

Lifty switched on the screen on his phone, and then showed it to Lumpy. And there it was: the image of a sneezy-looking Audrey and Dot, the latter of whom had stopped the former’s sneeze by placing her forefinger underneath her nose. Lumpy couldn’t help but chuckle.

“That’s awesome, Lifty,” said Lumpy. Lifty couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

“It’s from the Harvey Girls Pepper Sneezes episode,” Shifty mentioned. “Have you seen it yet?”

“I don’t think so,” Lumpy replied, giving another sniff. “But I bet it’s a hilarious episode, like What Makes You Hic.”

“Oh, it is,” said Shifty. “I can’t even decide which one of those episodes is better.”

“He does have a point,” Lifty chimed in. “Harvey Street Kids has way too many great episodes, especially since they started adding sneezes in the newer ones.”

“It sure does.” Lumpy rubbed his nose a bit with his hand. “Hey, could one of you guys do me a favor and make me sneeze? I could use some relief for my nose.”

“Sure, Lumpy.” Shifty grabbed onto his tail, held it in front of Lumpy’s face and tickled his nose with it.

Lumpy’s nostrils flared as his snout twitched, and for a few seconds, his pupils darted all over the place. But finally the buildup came.

“Ah, heh... Haah... Choo!”

Lumpy doubled over with a quiet, mild sneeze, and then placed his forefinger underneath his nose.

“Bless ya, Lumpy,” said Lifty as Lumpy rubbed his nose cutely.

“Yeah. Bless ya,” Shifty agreed.

Lumpy sniffled a couple of times. “Thanks.”

Shifty handed him a tissue, which Lumpy blew and wiped his nose with.

“Well, at least my nose feels a little better now...” Lumpy stated.

“Is there anything else we can do to make you feel better?” Shifty asked.

Lumpy thought for a moment, but couldn’t think of anything specific.

“I’m really not sure, guys,” said Lumpy.

“Well, you know what I think you need?” Lifty asked.

“A bowl of soup?” Lumpy asked, which caused both of the raccoons to chuckle a bit.

“That, too, but what I wanted to say,” Lifty went on, “was that you need to let all the other Tree Friends know you’re sick.”

Lumpy just looked at him. He didn’t seem to know how that would help his sniffles in any way.

“He does have a point, Lumpy,” Shifty said as Lumpy sniffled again. “You’re the one who gets sick more than any of us, after all. And you know how worried about you we get when you catch so much as a little cold, don’t you?”

Lumpy nodded in agreement.

“And maybe,” Lifty continued, “if you tell all your friends that you’re not feeling good, they’ll all have different ideas on how to help you feel better.”

Lumpy smiled. “You know, you guys are right.” Another sniffle as he placed his forefinger under his nose. “I think I’ll start by telling my closest friends first. Of course, I’ve already told you first, and Sniffles...”

“And I’m glad you did. We want you to feel better as soon as possible.”

Lumpy couldn’t help but blush as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Gee, thanks, guys.” He gave another brief sniff. “I’ll let my friends know as soon as I can.”

“But before I go, do you think I could, um... make you guys sneeze?”

“Oh, sure, Lumpy,” said Lifty.

“It’s not like I’ve had a good sneeze in a while, anyways,” Shifty stated.

Lumpy smiled, and brought his forefinger up for the raccoons to see. He poked Lifty’s nose gently with it, followed shortly by Shifty’s nose. They both winced at first, but then lowered their eyelids as their noses twitched. They were going to sneeze.

“Aaah, haaah...” The raccoons inhaled in unison, tilting their necks backward as they did so.

The two of them reached up to cover their mouths; Shifty brought up one hand, while Lifty brought up both hands. A couple of seconds later, they finally sneezed.

“Ahh-chuu!” Lifty was the first to release.

“Haah-tchoo!” And Shifty released not long after.

Lumpy smiled as he chuckled a bit. Those sneezes had been amusing to hear. As soon as they’d recovered from their sneezes, Lifty and Shifty rubbed their noses; Lifty used his forefinger, and Shifty used his arm.

“Bless you, guys,” said Lumpy.

“Thanks,” Lifty and Shifty replied in unison, still rubbing their noses. It looked rather endearing to see them do that, arguable more endearing than the sneezes they’d released not a minute ago.

“Sorry I did that,” said Lumpy, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I guess I didn’t want to be the only one being made to sneeze sometimes...”

He chuckled a bit, and the raccoons did as well.

“It’s alright, Lumpy,” said Shifty. “To be fair, I was wondering when that sneeze was going to come out...”

“Yeah, me too,” Lifty replied.

Lumpy smiled and got up from the couch. “Well, it was nice talking to you, guys. I’m gonna go visit someone else and tell them what’s wrong with me.”

“Okay. See ya later, Lumpy,” said Lifty.

“If you want some more help from us, just let us know,” Shifty replied.

Lumpy nodded in understanding and made his way out of the apartment, with both of the raccoons waving goodbye to him as he did so. As he walked through the halls and went down the elevator, Lumpy gave a few more audible sniffles. Sometimes he reached his hand up to wipe his red nose.

As Lumpy walked away from the raccoons’ apartment, he saw that it was a bit later than when he’d arrived. The sun was getting close to the horizon, even though the sky was still a lovely blue color. Lumpy thought to himself about what to do.

“Hm, should I return home?” Lumpy asked with a sniff. “Or should I find someone’s house to retire to?”

After a couple of minutes, Lumpy made up his mind. He decided he would return home for the night, and hang out with someone else in the morning.

Lumpy made his way home, giving one wet sniffle after another as he did so. After a few minutes, he was standing at his front door. He placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door open.

Not long after he’d gone inside, his nose began to feel clogged. He shut the door behind him as he groaned.

“Ughhh...” Lumpy rubbed underneath his stuffed up nose, slowly and gently, with the back of his hand as he gave a few more snuffles. “I could use a little rest.”

He pulled out his used handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it in the hamper. He then picked up a few of his clean handkerchiefs, followed by his box of tissues that he’d left on the coffee table. Lumpy placed the box and hankies on the couch, then picked up a large, warm, red and blue blanket.

He wrapped it around his body and sat down on the couch. His handkerchiefs were sitting by his left side, his tissues by his right. He sat there, tilting his head back slightly with every sniffle he took.

“I gotta blow by dose,” Lumpy said to himself, unable to say the last two words right due to his stuffy nose.

Lumpy pulled out a tissue and blew his nose loudly into it, but felt no relief. He tried again, but his throat tickled as he lost his breath, making him cough a few times. As he regained his breath, he wiped his nose, moving the tissue this way and that. Another sniff, followed by another.

He balled up his tissue and tossed it into the trash, then unfolded one of his handkerchiefs. It was a light blue color not too different from the color of his fur. With this one he blew his nose more gently, then wiped his nose, swiping it slowly but forcefully underneath his nostrils.

“Why isn’t this working?” asked Lumpy.

He pulled his handkerchief away from his nose and inserted his finger gently into his left nostril. A bit of twisting later, he pulled it out, but there was nothing. The nostril he picked, however, began to drip, as his finger had dislodged some of the mucus that was inside.

Lumpy took another tissue and blew his nose again, expelling the mucus in under a second. He then looked a bit sad as he wiped his nose, holding the tissue with both hands. He then wiped his forefinger off with whatever parts of the tissue were still dry, then threw that tissue away as well.

“I think I could use a sdeeze,” said Lumpy. “Good thing I have the bost sedsitive dose id the whole world...”

Lumpy removed the blanket from his body and stood up, placing his light blue handkerchief into his pocket. He looked over at his little pile of hankies, seeing a light yellow one on the top. It was the same shade of yellow as his antlers, so Lumpy picked it up and placed it in his other pocket.

He went over to his coatrack and picked up a fur duster. The bundle of fur that was on one end was a blue color, waiting to be cleaned with. Lumpy made his way over to the TV and started brushing off the top, moving the duster this way and that as he did so. He didn’t see any dust float into the air, however.

“Hmm...”

Lumpy looked up at the ceiling fan and smiled, having gotten an idea. The blades of the fan hadn’t been dusted for months - or at least, since the day he’d put it up. With a sniffle, he pulled a chair close to the still fan and then stood on it. His face barely touching the blades, Lumpy dusted the tops of one of the fan’s blades, sending a thick cloud of gray dust into the air.

Lumpy lowered his eyelids as he felt the dust enter his nose. His nostrils began to flare up as his snout twitched about.

“Ah... Aaah...” Lumpy inhaled, tilting his neck back. He just wanted to turn away from the fan or pull out one of his handkerchiefs, lest he sneeze on the fan. But the dust was tickling his sinuses so much that he had to explode, forcefully. “AHHH-CHOO!”

Lumpy doubled over as he released the sneeze, almost falling off the chair as he did so. To make things worse, the dust was still making his nose itch. He quickly stepped off the chair and gave a few more sneezes, keeping his upper body forward as he did so.

“Hah-choo! Ahh-choo! Haaah-choo!” He quickly pulled out his yellow handkerchief and wiped his nose with it. “Ugh...”

“Might as well dever clean that fan off,” Lumpy said to himself, almost sarcastically. He blew his nose briefly, giving himself some extra relief.

Lumpy went back over to the coatrack and put his fur duster away, not realizing until afterward that he’d placed it right next to his feather duster. He then picked up that duster and held it to his nose, allowing the soft feathers to caress his nostrils. They quickly flared up again, and he suddenly sneezed again.

“Tttchoo!” Lumpy pulled the duster away from his nose and then rubbed his nose with his forefinger. That sneeze had felt good, but he was probably going to need a few more tries to get the relief he wanted.

That being said, Lumpy looked over at the clock. It was getting close to dinner time. He put his duster back on the coatrack and headed into the kitchen.

Lumpy filled a clean pot with water and placed it on the stove, which he then switched on. Tonight he was going to have some chicken noodle soup. He did have the sniffles, after all, and even if his case of the sniffles wouldn’t go away for a while, chicken soup was good for illness.

The water soon began to boil, so Lumpy added some noodles as well as some fresh chicken pieces from a can. He picked up a wooden spoon and began to stir the mixture as he watched it cook. The whole time, he kept sniffling and rubbing his nose, which was still red.

Finally, however, his soup was ready. Lumpy poured some of it into a bowl, then placed a spoon into it and brought it to the table. He took a few sniffs to inhale the soup’s sweet aroma, then picked up the spoon and began to eat.

As it did any other time he was sick, the soup did taste good. Its warmth provided some comfort to his sore throat, and cleared his nasal passages a bit. He had to keep sniffling and wiping his nose, but by the time his bowl had been emptied, he was feeling quite a bit better.

That being said, he still wanted to treat his nose to some more relief. After Lumpy had placed his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher, he went back over to the table, looking at the pepper shaker that was sitting upon it.

He picked up the pepper and shook a small amount of it into his nose. His nostrils began to flare up wildly, and his snout quivered around in irritation. He needed to sneeze.

“Aaaah... Haaaah...” Lumpy put down the pepper shaker, pulled out his light blue handkerchief and covered his nose with it. He was expecting a huge sneeze... “AHHHHH...”

But instead, out came a fit of short, quiet sneezes.

“Choo! Tchew! Tchu! Aaah-tchoo! Hah-chew!”

Each time Lumpy sneezed, the edges of his handkerchief fluttered about. The sneezes didn’t feel as satisfying as he’d hoped, but they were better than none. Lumpy blew his nose into his handkerchief, then pulled out his yellow one and wiped his nose cutely.

“Ugh...” Lumpy sniffled wetly, holding the handkerchief in his hand as he rubbed it around on the end of his nose. “So everythidg makes be sdeeze quietly, but pepper just makes be sdeeze a lot, ad quietly?”

He took a deep breath and sighed to himself in dismay.

“It sure is gonna be hard having the chronic sniffles...” Another cute snuffle. “Well, I might as well get ready for bed.”

Lumpy placed both of his used handkerchiefs in the laundry hamper, then went upstairs to the bathroom. He treated himself to a warm bath, not only to make himself feel sleepy, but as an attempt to give his nasal passages some extra relief. His sniffling continued, but at least the warm water and bubbly soap felt good on his skin.

After his bath, Lumpy stepped out of the tub and dried himself off. He brushed his teeth with his favorite toothbrush, and then washed his mouth out with some water. Finally, he made his way out of the bathroom, walked into his bedroom, and crawled into his bed.

Lumpy yawned deeply into his hand as he made himself comfortable. He stared up at the ceiling for a couple of minutes, giving a sniffle here and there. But finally, his eyelids fell closed, and he began to snore. Throughout the night, Lumpy could hear crickets chirping outside.

His first day with the chronic sniffles had been hard, but he had made the most of it. Tomorrow, he was going to do it again, but he would also let the remainder of his friends - at least, whoever he could find or wanted to talk to - know about his illness.

Whatever comfort and sympathy they would provide for him was something that would make him feel more comfortable.


	4. Chapter 4

Minutes passed by, a great many minutes. Finally the sun began to rise, and the sky turned from dark blue to a much lighter shade. Before long, you could hear the birds chirping wherever you went.

Lumpy lay asleep in his bed, snoring loudly. When his alarm clock had reached seven, however, he slowly opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He yawned into his hand for a good three seconds, and then rubbed his eyes with his fists.

Now that a new day was beginning, the first thing Lumpy wanted to check was if he was still ill with the chronic sniffles. He took a deep breath through his nose, but it sounded wet. Yep, he still had the sniffles. The moose coughed a bit and wiped his nose with the side of his hand.

“I wonder what Giggles would do to make me feel better,” said Lumpy, stuffily.

He sat on the edge of his bed, then stepped off. He made his way to the bathroom, sniffling along the way. Upon getting there, he took a shower to clean himself off, although neither the steam nor the hot water were enough to clear his nose. Then he brushed his teeth and put on some odorless deodorant, and just like that, he was out of the bathroom.

Lumpy trudged down the stairs, sadly moving his forefinger underneath his sniffly nose. When he got to the kitchen, he made himself some peanut butter toast and a glass of milk for breakfast. They tasted good, although he wasn’t sure if they could help his sniffles in any way. Once he had finished eating, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, trying to resist the urge to wipe his nose as well.

The moose then went into the living room, pulled a tissue out from the box on the coffee table and blew his nose loudly. When Lumpy removed the tissue, he could see that his nose had started dripping from the harsh blow. He threw his used tissue into the trash, pulled out another tissue and wiped the mucus off from his nose.

“Ugh.” Lumpy groaned as he threw that tissue out as well. Then he took another sniffle, trying to provide his nose with some more relief. It wasn’t working. “I’b going to deed sobe of by handkerchiefs while I’b at Giggles’...”

So Lumpy picked up some of his laundered handkerchiefs, all of which were white, and slipped them into his pockets. Then he placed his hand on the knob of the front door, turned it and pushed it open.

It was another nice day out, so Lumpy made his way outside, shutting the door behind him as he did so. He walked away from his house and went on his way to Giggles’ house. Along the way, he couldn’t help but keep snuffling, and sometimes he brought one of his hands up to rub his nose. Finally, however, a familiar house caught Lumpy’s sights, making him smile.

Giggles was at her desk, writing something with a quill that was almost the same shade of pink as she was. Then she heard the doorbell being pressed, which caused her to stop writing and look toward the door. Knowing that someone had arrived, Giggles got up from her desk and put her pen in its inkwell. As she did so, however, the tip of the quill tickled her nose, which made her need to sneeze.

“Ah, ah...” Giggles tilted her neck back twice, and then rubbed her nose a few times with her forefinger. The urge to sneeze quickly went away, and she sighed with relief. “Phew.”

Giggles went over to the front door, still rubbing her nose a little to help it recover from the tickle that had almost made her sneeze. Only when she got there did she pull her hand away from her nose, and then she opened the door.

“Hey, Giggles,” Lumpy greeted her politely.

“Oh, hi, Lumpy!” said Giggles. “It’s so good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” Lumpy gave a rather audible sniffle.

“Why don’t you come on in?”

Giggles moved out of the way so that Lumpy could come inside, and he did just that. When Giggles closed the door, however, she noticed that Lumpy’s nose was red. It was a familiar sight that filled her with concern.

“Lumpy?”

“Yeah?” Another snuffle from Lumpy.

“Your nose looks a little red. Are you feeling alright?” asked Giggles.

“Well, I’ve been better.” Lumpy pulled one of his handkerchiefs out of his pocket and blew his nose gently with it. “...ugh...”

“I think you may have caught a cold, Lumpy,” Giggles stated, but Lumpy shook his head in disagreement.

“Actually, I dod’t have a code.” Lumpy wiped his nose cutely with his handkerchief. “I’ve just cobe down with the sdiffles.”

“Oh, you have? I’m sorry,” Giggles replied.

Another sniffle from Lumpy. “It’s alright. I’b bakidg the bost of it.”

Lumpy went over to the couch in the living room and sat down on it. Giggles followed him and sat next to him before he explained.

“Yesterday I woke up feelidg like this,” said Lumpy. “I asked Sdiffles to help figure out what was wrong, ad he told me I have sobethidg bore severe.”

Giggles looked a bit concerned. “Your sniffles look severe enough as they are...”

Lumpy nodded in agreement. “Yeah. It turns out, I‘ve caught a sickdess called...” He cleared his throat a little and sniffled again, clearing his nose just enough to say the name of his illness correctly. “...the chronic sniffles.”

Giggles gasped and threw her hand over her mouth. “The chronic sniffles?!”

“I couldn’t believe it byself.” Lumpy wiped his nose with his hand. “I guess it’s called that because it lasts longer thad a week, like bost codes do...”

“Oh, Lumpy, I’m so sorry!” Giggles cried.

“Be too.” Lumpy sniffed once, then twice. “I’b afraid I’b godda be sick ad sdiffly for quite a while.”

“Do you know how long exactly?” Giggles asked, but Lumpy shook his head once again, which made her even more concerned. “Oh, my...”

“But like I said, I’b bakidg the bost of it,” Lumpy told her. “Ad that brings be to why I cabe over...”

He blew his nose again into his handkerchief, doing it as gently as he could so he wouldn’t bring any pain to his nose. As he resumed speaking, he wiped the end of his snout.

“I decided that I deeded a cobpadion to help be get through the day.”

“Well, you do look like you could use some tender loving care,” Giggles said.

“Yeah, I could, couldn’t I?” Lumpy asked, rhetorically. “By point is, Giggles, I wadted to spend by day with you so you could help be feel better. What do you thidk?”

Giggles thought for a moment about this. Finally she smiled at Lumpy.

“You know, Lumpy, I think you could use a companion, too. And long as it makes you feel better, I’ll be your companion today and help you in any way I can. I promise.”

Lumpy smiled as well. “Thadk you, Giggles.”

He reached his handkerchief up to wipe his nose again, which Giggles thought was cute to watch. A sniff emerged from his nose, followed by another.

“You need some tickles?” Giggles asked.

Lumpy smiled and nodded from the idea, then placed his handkerchief back in his pocket for later. Then he brought his foot up onto the couch for Giggles to see, and she placed her fingertips upon his arch. Lumpy smirked at first, and then she began to tickle his foot.

“Hahahahaha, hahahahaha!!” Lumpy began to laugh as he wiggled his toes around. Giggles moved her fingers to underneath his toes and tickled them as well, which made him laugh even more. “Hahahahahahahaha!!”

Giggles giggled a bit as she heard Lumpy’s laughter. It sounded cute, even if he was sick. Just for the heck of it, she inserted her finger in between Lumpy’s toes and then slid it out gently.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Lumpy laughed particularly loudly as she did this, and then he pulled his foot away. He sat there, blushing and panting as he tried to catch his breath.

Giggles gave another cute giggle at his expression. “Aww. You don’t like being tickled between your toes?” she asked affectionately.

“Ndo, ndo...” Lumpy replied with a sniffle. “I liked it, I just cad’t handle beidg tickled betweed by toes. I’ve told you before, it’s by bost ticklish spot...”

“I knew that.” Another giggle from Giggles. “Sorry, Lumpy, you could’ve just told me before I started.”

“It’s alright. I’b sorry, too.”

Lumpy sniffled again, then pulled out his handkerchief to blow his nose. As he wiped his nose afterward, he looked over at Giggles’ desk, seeing a familiar pink object.

“Hey, Giggles?” he asked.

“Yeah?”

“Is that your feather over there?”

“Yes, it is,” Giggles replied. “I was using it to write some things before you came over. Why do you ask?”

“Well...” Lumpy coughed a bit into his handkerchief, then sniffled again. With the next thing he said, he managed a little smile. “I thidk I kdow what I’d like to be tickled with dext.”

Giggles smiled as well, knowing what it was he meant. She got up from the couch and went over to her desk, and in less than a minute she was back with her feather. Lumpy kept his smile, to which Giggles responded by stroking his foot gently with her feather.

“Ahahahahaha!! *gasp* Hahahahahahahahaha!!!” Lumpy began laughing again, wiggling his toes before he pulled his foot away.

“Aw, are you ticklish?” Giggles asked playfully. She raised her quill to Lumpy’s tummy and began to move it around, which tickled him quite a lot.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Lumpy squirmed around as he laughed hard, almost to the point where tears started coming out of his eyes. He couldn’t help it, he just couldn’t handle the tip of the feather tickling him. “THAT TICKLESSSS!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

This session of tickling went on for about fifteen seconds before Lumpy had to cover his belly. He sat where he was, panting hard. On the other hand, Giggles looked at him, giggling in amusement.

“Your laugh is so cute, Lumpy!” said Giggles.

“Yeah, I kdow...” Lumpy suddenly coughed again, bringing up his hand to cover his mouth a bit too late. “Uugh.”

“Are you still not feeling well?” Giggles asked, sounding a bit concerned now that she’d heard Lumpy cough.

“Ndo,” Lumpy replied. “I thidk you bade be laugh a little too hard...” He sat back up, wiping his nose with his arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Giggles apologized. “In that case, I’ll give you a little break from my tickles.”

“Okay.” Lumpy sniffled again, his nostrils flaring slightly. “Although there is wud bore spot where I’d like to be tickled.”

He gestured to his nose, which still looked red from his sniffles. Giggles nodded in understanding, then held her feather quill underneath his nose and began to wiggle it back and forth.

Lumpy’s first reaction was a smile - perhaps he enjoyed the tickling sensation. After a few seconds, however, his snout began to twitch, and his nostrils began to flare up. His breath began to hitch.

“Ah... Aah... Ahh...”

These three inhales were all it took for Giggles to realize that he was going to sneeze. She stopped tickling his nose and moved back a bit, watching as Lumpy’s eyelids fell shut. His nose continued to rumble for a second, and then he gave a mild sneeze, sending his neck forward.

“Ah-choo!”

The sneeze contained no spray or mucus, not even a hint of saliva. Lumpy opened his eyes and rubbed his nose with his forefinger, sniffling as he did so.

“Bless you, Lumpy,” said Giggles.

“Thadk you. Ad excuse be.” Lumpy continued to rub his nose for a few more seconds, then pulled out his handkerchief. He blew his nose rather wetly, then wiped his nose with it.

“I forgot to bedtiod,” said Lumpy, “that havidg the chrodic sdiffles doesn’t cause be to sdeeze. Everythidg else does, but whed I do sdeeze...” He snuffled, handkerchief over nose. “...it’s the total opposite of how I usually sdeeze.”

“You mean, like really quiet sneezes?” Giggles asked, and Lumpy nodded. “Hmm, I guess I didn’t know that.”

“At least these sdiffles dod’t bake be sdeeze,” Lumpy added as he removed his handkerchief from his nose, “or else it’d be a chrodic code idstead. At least, that’s what Sdiffles told be.”

“That makes sense,” said Giggles. “And by the way, can I tell you something that made me think of you?”

Lumpy nodded, not knowing what she was going to say.

“Right before you came over, my quill tickled my nose and almost made me sneeze.”

Lumpy couldn’t help but chuckle. “That does sound a little funny.”

“Yeah, except...” Giggles’ pupils suddenly darted about as her nose twitched. “...ugh...” She sniffled once, with this one sounding less wet from Lumpy’s. It made sense, though; she wasn’t the one who was feeling sick. “I think bringing it up is making my nose tickle again.”

“Well, you‘ve still got that quill,” said Lumpy. “Why don’t you bake yourself sdeeze with it?” 

Giggles looked at her quill, seeing why Lumpy had suggested it.

“I guess I could try it.” She slowly stroked the tip of her quill underneath her nose, causing her nostrils to flare up. She needed to sneeze.

“Aaah, haaah...” inhaled Giggles, tilting her neck back. “Haaaaah...”

Knowing what was going to happen, Lumpy covered his nose with his handkerchief, hoping Giggles wouldn’t sneeze on his face. Luckily, Giggles quickly turned away from him so she wouldn’t, no matter how her sneeze would turn out.

A final inhale and massive flare of both her nostrils later, she gave an unexpectedly wet sneeze.

“AAAAAHHHHH-SHEEEEWWWW!!!”

Giggles shot her neck forwards as she fired a small amount of mucus from her nose, and a good amount of saliva from her mouth. At least the sneeze had felt good to release. She turned back to Lumpy, sniffling loudly as she rubbed her nose with her forefinger. Lumpy looked quite surprised; he really wasn’t fond of when Giggles released a messy sneeze, but he knew she couldn’t help herself.

“Bless YOU!” said Lumpy.

“Thank you...” Giggles continued to rub her nose. “Ugh, I think I need a tissue...”

She pulled out a tissue from a nearby box and blew her nose into it, sending the edges of the same tissue fluttering around. Then she wiped her nose cutely, which caused Lumpy to smile.

“That bust’ve been a pretty tickly sdeeze you had there,” said Lumpy.

“Oh, it was,” Giggles agreed. “I suppose my nose is a little extra sensitive to quill feathers, just like your nose is. Either that, or it really wanted to get that sneeze over with...”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Quills tickle like crazy.” Lumpy placed his forefinger under his nose with another sniffle.

“But thanks for suggesting I use this on myself,” said Giggles. “I’m feeling better now.”

“Ad I’b glad,” Lumpy said with a smile.

Giggles threw away her used tissue and sat back down on the couch with Lumpy. She also placed her quill on the end table next to her so she could use it later. As the two Tree Friends tried to think of something to talk about, Lumpy continued to sniffle. Sometimes he brought his hand or his handkerchief up to wipe his nose.

Suddenly an idea came to Giggles. “Hey, Lumpy? I have a question.”

“You do? What is it?”

“Do you ever pretend to sneeze?” Giggles wanted to know.

“Dot really,” Lumpy replied. “I’b dot sure why I have to, gived how buch I sdeeze od bost days.”

“Well, I was going to say,” said Giggles, “if you can’t sneeze from having the sniffles, you can always pretend you have to sneeze instead.”

Lumpy looked at her as he thought about what she told him. “Hmm... I dever thought of that...”

“And besides, I think it’d be cute and fun to watch. Maybe not as funny as seeing you sneeze for real, but still cute.”

Lumpy smiled when she said that. “If you thidk so, I’ll try it.”

He took a minute to think about what could cause him to sneeze, and then came up with an idea of his own. He released a couple of fake sneezes into his handkerchief, trying to draw them out like his normal sneezes did.

“Haah-choooo! Aaaaah-chooooooo!!”

Giggles couldn’t help but giggle when she heard the sneezes; they sounded quite convincing.

“What’s the matter, Lumpy?” she jokingly asked as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

“I’m havidg an allergy attack,” Lumpy said, joking as well. He sniffled once. “I was dustidg... Ah-chu! Ad sbellidg flowers... Hah-chu! Ad dow the dust ad polled are bakidg be sdee-- Aaah-chooooo!”

Giggles giggled some more as Lumpy wiped his nose with his handkerchief. “Those are some pretty good sneezes, Lumpy!”

“Gee, thadks,” Lumpy replied. Then another idea came to him, and he pretended to knock something over. “Ah! Oh, ndo, I kdocked over the pepper! Stand back...”

Lumpy placed his forefinger under his nose, inhaled three times and pretended to release a particularly big sneeze.

“Aaaah... Aaaaah... AAAAAHHHHH-- Chooooooooooooooo~!!!”

Giggles couldn’t help but laugh; that fake sneeze sounded just like one of his real ones.

“Bless you, Lumpy!” Giggles said as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

“Thadk you,” Lumpy said. He laughed a bit as well; pretending to sneeze must have been quite fun to do, arguably compared to sneezing for real. He blew his nose into his handkerchief and then wiped his nose with it. “As far as doidg fake sdeezes goes, how’d I do?”

“You did great!” said Giggles. “You should pretend to sneeze more often.”

Lumpy smiled and blushed at her compliment. “Gee, thadk you.”

Not long after he’d thanked her, Lumpy’s stomach growled. He blushed once more as he placed his hand over his belly.

“Sorry. I guess I haved’t eated sidce breakfast.”

Giggles checked her watch, which Lumpy noticed had a heart shape and a picture of Audrey from Harvey Street Kids behind the hands.

“Well, it’s getting close to noon,” said Giggles. “I’m a little hungry myself. How would you like me to make lunch?”

Lumpy nodded. “Yes, please.”

Lumpy and Giggles got off the couch, and then made their way to the kitchen. They washed their hands - Lumpy washed his first before Giggles washed hers - and then Lumpy sat at the table to wait.

Giggles had decided that what Lumpy needed for his sniffles was some chicken soup. So she boiled some water in a pot and added some noodles and chicken pieces. While they were waiting for the soup to cook, she made a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well - two for Lumpy, and two for herself.

Finally, their lunch was ready. Giggles scooped some soup into a couple of bowls, then placed one of them in front of Lumpy. A plate that held his sandwiches was placed next to the bowl as well.

“Here you go, Lumpy,” said Giggles.

“Thadk you,” Lumpy said with a smile. He picked up a spoon and began to eat.

The chicken noodle soup tasted good. Lumpy could feel its warmth soothing his throat and clearing his nasal passages a bit. The sandwiches tasted pretty good, too, even if they weren’t Lumpy’s favorite. Giggles sat on the opposite end of the table, eating her soup and sandwiches as well.

Finally the two of them had finished. Lumpy picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth cutely with it, and Giggles got up to clear the table.

“Thadk you so buch for bakidg be lunch, Giggles,” said Lumpy.

“You’re welcome, Lumpy,” Giggles replied. “I’ll go do the dishes. Why don’t you go back to the couch and help yourself to some tissues?”

“Sounds good.” Lumpy snuffled.

As Giggles cleaned the dishes, Lumpy went back into the living room. He pulled a tissue out from the box and blew his nose - it felt quite good. He then wiped his nose, moving the tissue back and forth against his nostrils.

A few minutes passed, and soon Giggles came back into the living room. Lumpy was now on the couch, having finished wiping his nose.

“Are you feeling any better, Lumpy?” Giggles wanted to know.

“Dot really, but at least I’b havidg a good tibe with you.” Lumpy sniffled again, rubbing his nose gently with his forefinger.

Giggles giggled, partially because of his compliment, and partially because of how cute it was to see him rub his nose. She went over to the couch as well and sat next to Lumpy again. They were at the same positions they were before lunch, with Giggles close to her quill that was still sitting on the end table.

After almost a minute of thinking, an idea came to Lumpy. “Hey, do you thidk the Harvey Girls are ticklish?”

Giggles smiled from imagining that, and then took a bit to think about the idea. “Yes, I think they’d be ticklish, if not as much as you.”

“Okay, I was just askidg.” Lumpy sniffled again. He blushed upon the next thing he said. “Although actually, I really wadt to see Audrey get tickled by sobewud...”

Giggles kept smiling, but this time a giggle was her response. “You know, that would be cute to see. Besides, Audrey’s the cutest of the Harvey Girls.”

“Absolutely,” replied Lumpy. He gave another sniffle, then looked back at Giggles. It was clear he’d gotten another idea. “Hey, Giggles, bay I please tickle you?”

Giggles took a minute to think about that.

“You know, Lumpy,” she finally said, “I’ve tickled you a lot today, so it makes sense that you’d want to tickle me, too. So yes, you may.”

Lumpy smiled. “Thadks.”

Giggles brought both of her feet up for Lumpy to see. He placed both of his hands upon her soles, which immediately caused her to smirk, and began to wiggle his fingers around.

“Hehehe, hahahahehehehe!” Giggles began to laugh cutely.

Lumpy continued to tickle her feet, moving his forefingers up and down her soles as he did so. He sniffled here and there, but didn’t let his illness interfere with this.

“Tickle-tickle~!”

“Hahahahaha!! It tickles! Hahahahahaha!”

After a few seconds, Lumpy pulled his hands away from Giggles’ feet. Not long afterward, however, he inserted his forefinger in between her toes and slid it out gently.

“Ahahahahaha!!” Giggles laughed, indicating to Lumpy that it tickled, too. Lumpy placed his finger back between her toes and slid it in and out a few times, causing her laugh to continue. “Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!”

“Lumpy, please don’t do that! It really ticklesss!!” Giggles said through her laughter.

Lumpy decided to do as he was told and pulled his forefinger away from her feet. Giggles sat where she was, panting a bit to catch her breath.

“I’b sorry, Giggles,” Lumpy apologized.

“It’s alright,” Giggles replied. “I just didn’t think I could take any more, that’s all.”

“That’s understaddable.” Lumpy rubbed his nose gently with his forefinger, accompanied by a sniffle. “Hey, I have ad idea. How about we use that quill of yours to bake ourselves sdeeze?”

“Oh, sure, Lumpy.” Giggles reached over to pick her quill back up. “Would you like to sneeze first?”

“Yes, please,” said Lumpy. “I could use sobe bore relief.”

Giggles nodded in understanding and began to tickle Lumpy’s nose with her feather. She was just moving it back and forth, letting the tip of it stroke under his nostrils. Within a few seconds, however, Lumpy’s snout began to twitch, and his nostrils began to flare up. Soon he began to inhale, doing his best to make it sound dramatic.

“Aaaaaaah... Haaaaaah... HAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH...” Lumpy tilted his neck back as his eyelids fell shut, with Giggles looking on in anticipation. But when the sneeze finally came, it was no less mild than any other sneeze he’d released today, even though he tried to extend it. “...choooooooo...!”

“Awww...” Giggles’ eyes were sparkling a bit in adoration. That might not have been a big sneeze, but at least his attempt had sounded cute. And just to add to the cuteness, Lumpy rubbed his sniffly nose with his forefinger, which Giggles thought was a perfect time for her to bless him. “Bless you, Lumpy.”

“Thadk you,” Lumpy replied. Giggles handed him a tissue from her box, and Lumpy blew his nose rather loudly. Then he wiped his nose, holding the tissue in both hands.

“That was a cute sneeze,” Giggles commented. “Sorry I couldn’t make it too loud, though.”

“It’s okay,” said Lumpy. “I’b dot fond of always lettidg out loud sdeezes, adyway...”

“Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way...” Giggles then handed him her quill. “...you can make me sneeze if you’d like.”

“Sounds good,” Lumpy replied. “I just hope you dod’t sdeeze sdot out of your dose...” He cringed and shivered a bit from the idea. “That would be so yucky.”

“I know,” Giggles replied, sharing Lumpy’s worry. Then she lightened up. “But don’t worry about that; I don’t think I’m gonna sneeze like that.”

Lumpy calmed down a bit. “Okay, but I’ll just tickle your nose once or twice. Just to be safe.”

Giggles nodded in understanding, and then Lumpy stroked her nose a couple of times with her quill. At first, she had no reaction, but after a couple of seconds went by, Lumpy saw her nose begin to twitch. Then her eyelids lowered and her breath began to hitch.

“Aaah... Haaah... Ahhh...”

Almost as soon as she’d inhaled, Lumpy pulled the quill away from her nose and watched. Giggles tilted her upper body as far back as it could go, and then released a mild sneeze.

“Haaaah-tchyew!”

Luckily, there wasn’t a hint of visible saliva or mucus when she sneezed. And besides, the sneeze was simply adorable. Lumpy chuckled in adoration, bringing his free hand up to cover his mouth.

Giggles blushed, also giggling as she rubbed her nose with her forefinger. “Excuse me.”

“It’s alright. Bless you, Giggles,” said Lumpy.

“Thank you,” Giggles replied. She gave a light sniffle to bring some extra relief to her nose. “Would you like me to sneeze some more? Or would you rather sneeze some more?”

Lumpy thought, but couldn’t decide between them.

“I don’t even kdow,” he replied. He sniffled again, forefinger under nose.

Suddenly the front door opened, and in came Giggles’ mother.

“Giggles, darling, I’m home!” she called as she went into the living room.

“Oh, hi, Mom!” Giggles replied as she greeted her mom.

“Hello, Mrs. Chipmunk,” Lumpy said, doing his best to sound like he wasn’t sick.

“Hello, Lumpy.” Mom greeted him as well, but also saw that his nose was red. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’b alright, except...” Lumpy gave another sniffle and pulled one of his handkerchiefs from his pocket. “By dose has a little case of the sdiffles.” He wiped his nose politely with his handkerchief, holding it with one hand.

“Oh, really? I’m sorry to hear that,” replied Mom. “I hope Giggles won’t catch it.”

“I’b sure she wod’t.” Lumpy snuffled again.

“I’ve been making sure Lumpy has all the company he needs while you were gone,” Giggles said.

“That’s good,” her mother replied. “Would you two like me to make you lunch?”

“Ndo, thadk you. I’ve already eaten,” Lumpy stated.

“So have I.”

“Well, alright, then.“

“Oh, and Mom?” Giggles asked.

“Yes, darling?”

“Lumpy hasn’t been very sneezy today,” said Giggles, “but it turns out, he’s pretty good at pretending to sneeze.”

“Hm, I don’t think I’ve heard him pretend to sneeze...” Mom looked over at Lumpy. “Would you please show me, Lumpy?”

“Sure!” Lumpy smiled, then held his forefinger underneath his nose as though he were trying to hold back a sneeze. As he improvised a buildup, he held his handkerchief in front of his nose.

“Aaaaah... Haaaaaah... Aaaaahhhhhhhh-choooooooooooo!”

Both Giggles and her mother giggled in amusement as Lumpy released his feigned sneeze. They both thought it was cute and funny.

“Bless you, Lumpy, dear,” Giggles’ mother said as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

“Thadk you,” Lumpy replied with a smile. “Perbissiod to blow by dose?”

Mom nodded, and Lumpy blew his nose a couple of times into his handkerchief. As he wiped his nose with it afterward, Mom continued.

“Giggles was right, you are good at releasing fake sneezes. Not to mention, they don’t sound too different from your real sneezes, or any less cute.”

“Thadks for the cobplibedt,” replied Lumpy. “By the way, I’b dot goidg to be over by sdiffles for quite a while.” He gave another snuffle. “So if I cobe back ad I’b still sick, you bight wadt to keep that id bide.”

“I understand,” said Giggles’ mom. “But I hope you feel better soon, Lumpy.”

Lumpy blushed and smiled at her in response.

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” asked Mom.

Giggles and Lumpy nodded in understanding, and then she walked out of the room. Giggles looked at Lumpy playfully.

“Would you like some more tickles?” she asked, and Lumpy nodded. Giggles began to tickle Lumpy again, but this time, she tickled his neck with her quill.

“Hehehe, hahahahaha!” Lumpy giggled. Giggles also tickled the left and right sides of his neck, which made him laugh some more. “Hahahahahahahaha!”

“It, it ticklesss!! Hahahahaha!” said Lumpy.

Giggles gave a cute giggle herself as she continued to tickle Lumpy’s neck. That being said, she stopped after a few seconds. Lumpy sat where he was, still giggling a bit.

“That was fud,” Lumpy said, “but I thidk I’ve had edough tickles for wud day.”

“Well, alright.” Giggles stood up from the couch. “In that case, I’ll just put this away.”

She walked back to her desk, placed her quill back in the inkwell, and returned to Lumpy. He gave a light sniffle, followed by another.

“So, Lumpy,” said Giggles, “if you don’t want to be tickled anymore, what would you like to do now?”

“Well, I suppose I’d like to watch sobe Harvey Street Kids,” Lumpy stated. “There was this wud episode that Lifty ad Shifty told be about that I wadted to see.”

“Oh, really?” Giggles sounded like she was interested.

“It was ad episode where pepper bakes the Harvey Girls sdeeze or sobethidg,” Lumpy went on. He emitted another sniffle.

Giggles couldn’t help but smile when she heard the premise. “That sounds pretty cute. May I watch it with you, please?”

“Sure, I dod’t see why dot.”

Lumpy reached into one of his pockets, pulled out his smartphone and went into the search bar. As he typed in “Harvey Girls Pepper Sneezes,” he continued to sniffle here and there. It took him a bit of browsing, but finally he found a high-quality video of the episode he was looking for.

“Ah. Here it is,” Lumpy said with a smile of satisfaction. “You ready to see it, Giggles?”

“Yes, I am,” Giggles replied with a nod.

Lumpy tapped the thumbnail to the video, then turned his phone sideways as he and Giggles began to watch it. The Harvey Girls’ logo appeared before the title, then some opening credits, and finally the episode proper began.

The plot of this episode was that the Harvey Girls were making sandwiches for themselves as well as their friends. However, when Dot was sprinkling pepper onto one of the sandwiches, some of the pepper went up to and tickled her nose, which made her need to sneeze. She inhaled audibly for a couple of seconds, but Lotta realized what was going to happen and placed her forefinger under Dot’s nose. And just like that, her sneeze was stopped, and she thanked Lotta.

Dot then suggested that Lotta season the next sandwich for her. Lotta decided to do that and applied some pepper to the next sandwich, only to then comment on the scent of the pepper. Then she was about to sneeze, too, but Audrey stopped her - by also placing her forefinger under her nose before she could release. Lotta thanked her as well, and then Audrey offered to season the rest of the sandwiches for her.

Unlike her friends, Audrey knew exactly what the pepper would do to her if she wasn’t careful. So she tried shaking the pepper as slowly and gently as she could to prevent such a thing from happening. But it wasn’t long before the scent of the pepper was making her nose tickle as well. She began to inhale as she tilted her neck back and prepared to release a big sneeze... but then Dot placed her forefinger under her nose, too, and that managed to stop the sneeze.

Lumpy and Giggles couldn’t help but chuckle every time one of the Harvey Girls was about to sneeze in that scene. There was something adorable and oddly amusing about them having their sneezes stopped before they could come out, although neither of them could put their finger on it. They did agree, however, that Audrey’s buildup was the cutest and funniest, without knowing just how cuter and funnier the episode would get soon after.

Now that Audrey’s sneeze had been prevented, Dot decided that the best thing to do was season the rest of the sandwiches herself. And to prevent herself from sneezing again, she put on a sanitary mask beforehand. Her plan worked, and soon the sandwiches had been seasoned and stored. Dot removed her mask and suggested that she and her friends wash her hands.

Before they could go to the sink, however, Lotta knocked over the pepper shaker by accident, and a massive amount of pepper engulfed the Harvey Girls. And just like that, they entered a massive sneezing fit.

Lumpy and Giggles, on the other hand, entered a fit of amused laughter. This had to have been one of the most hilarious scenes that Harvey Street Kids had to offer. It was also surprisingly adorable to hear Audrey, Dot and Lotta sneeze the way they were; Lumpy couldn’t imagine them sneezing any other way, and neither could Giggles.

After almost a minute had gone by, the Harvey Girls inhaled dramatically, then released a final colossal sneeze, all in unison. It sounded hilarious, but it caught Lumpy and Giggles off-guard and made them wince in disbelief.

“Whoa!!” Lumpy said.

“Oh, my goodness!!” Giggles cried.

Now that Audrey, Dot and Lotta were finally finished sneezing, they all rubbed their noses - Audrey used her forefinger, Dot used her arm, and Lotta used her hand. Lumpy and Giggles couldn’t help but bless them.

“Bless you, Harvey Girls!” said Lumpy.

“Bless YOU!” said Giggles.

After the Girls had commented on how harsh their sneezing fit had been, they blessed each other. Audrey blessed Dot, Dot blessed Lotta, and then Dot and Lotta blessed Audrey in unison - and all they had to say besides their blessee’s names was “Gesundheit.”

“Awww...” Lumpy and Giggles both had sparkles of adoration in their eyes. It may have been a coincidence that they had blessed the Girls before they blessed each other, but what mattered was that this whole scene was absolutely adorable.

Then the Harvey Girls went into the bathroom to blow their noses on some tissues. Seeing them do so, as well as wipe their noses afterward, also caused Lumpy and Giggles to smile. Was there any nose-related action the Harvey Girls could do that they wouldn’t find cute or funny?

“I think they could use some of my handkerchiefs,” Giggles commented with a giggle, and Lumpy nodded in agreement.

After the Harvey Girls made a few more comments about their experience, they all resolved to be more careful with pepper, as well as not tell any of the other kids about what happened. And once they’d washed their hands and left the bathroom, there was an iris out. The episode was over.

“That was awesome,” Lumpy said, a big smile upon his face.

“It certainly was, Lumpy,” Giggles agreed. She was smiling as well.

"I dod't eved thidk I cad choose a favorite part," Lumpy went on. "All of it was really cute ad hilarious, after all."

Giggles nodded in agreement. Lumpy then checked the time on his phone.

"Hmm, it's gettidg kinda late..." He sniffled once, then stood up from the couch. "I'b goidg to head hobe dow, Giggles. Thadk you for keepidg be cobpady today."

"You're welcome, Lumpy," Giggles replied. "And thank you for showing me that episode of Harvey Street Kids, I really enjoyed it."

"You're welcome, too," said Lumpy.

Lumpy then made his way over to the front door, but when he got there, Giggles went over to it as well. She placed her hand on the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door open for him. Lumpy smiled at her and headed outside, but Giggles stayed at the door to wave goodbye to him.

"Hope you feel better soon, Lumpy!" Giggles called.

Lumpy waved goodbye to her as well and headed home. Along the way, he kept sniffling and rubbing his nose. Luckily, he managed to make it back to his house before the sky had begun to turn dark blue with stars.

Since he wasn't hungry, Lumpy helped himself to a cold bottle of water for dinner. He knew it was important for someone as ill as him to drink plenty of liquids after all. After a couple of minutes, the bottle was empty, and he placed it in a garbage bag so he could save it for recycling. Then he put away the bag, pulled out his used handkerchiefs and tossed them in the washer before he went to the bathroom.

The sniffly moose treated himself to a nice, warm bath to help clear his nasal passages. It didn't provide quite the right amount of relief for his nose, but he felt quite good and relaxed afterward - not to mention, he also felt sleepy. Once he had dried off, Lumpy brushed his teeth and put on his pajamas, then went into his bedroom.

After he'd crawled into bed, Lumpy gave a couple more sniffles, then wiped his nose a few times with the back of his hand. He needed to blow his nose, and he could tell. So Lumpy reached over to his box of tissues, pulled out a tissue, and blew his nose gently. Then he wiped his nose, holding the tissue in both hands.

"I thidk toborrow," Lumpy said to himself, "I'll find sobewud else to be by cobpadion ad help be cope with by chrodic sdiffles. Ad I'll do that again the day after that, udtil I'b all better... or at least, I've had everywud keep be cobpady for the day at least wudce. Whichever cobes first."

Lumpy then yawned deeply into his hand, a sign it was time to go to sleep. He balled up his used tissue, threw it into the trash, then reached over to the light and switched it off. Finally he lay his head upon the pillow, and his eyelids fell closed. From that point onward, Lumpy could hear the crickets chirping outside.


	5. Chapter 5

Minutes passed by, a great many minutes. Soon the sun began to rise, and the sky slowly turned from dark blue to a much lighter shade. And as you could the morning before as well as the morning before that, you could hear birds chirping wherever you went.

Lumpy was still sleeping in his bed, snoring loudly. Sometime before his clock reached seven, however, he slowly opened his eyes as he awoke. He gave a rather deep yawn into his hand, and then sat up in his bed. He rubbed one of his eyes gently with his other hand.

Lumpy took a couple of light inhales through his nose, followed shortly by a sharp sniff. All of the sniffs sounded wet; that was how he could tell he still had the sniffles.

"Ugh..." Lumpy coughed three times into his hand, and then sulked as he thought for a few moments. "Hmm, I already spedt yesterday with Giggles. Maybe Cuddles or Toothy cad take care of be today..."

Lumpy lowered the covers from his body, and then sat on the edge of his bed. His poor red nose was feeling quite runny. The moose reached over to his tissue box, pulled out a tissue and blew his nose once, then twice. Neither of these blows brought much relief to his nasal passages. Lumpy wiped his nose with his tissue, sniffling audibly.

When he had enough energy to get out of bed, Lumpy threw his tissue away and went into the bathroom to wash up. Every part of his routine, from showering to brushing his teeth, was punctuated with one sniffle after another. Finally he went downstairs, rubbing and wiping his nose along the way.

For breakfast, Lumpy made himself some buttered toast and a glass of orange juice. Even if it wasn't much, it was better than not eating anything at all. He had to have a glass of water after he was done with his orange juice, however, to dilute the strong flavor that he wasn't used to. Soon he was finished and placed his dishes in the dishwasher.

As he did yesterday and the day before, Lumpy knew he was going to sniffle quite a lot today. Might as well bring some things to wipe my nose with, he thought. He took about five tissues out from a nearby tissue box and placed them into one of his pockets. In the other pocket went two handkerchiefs - one was as blue as himself, and the other was white, but both of them were clean and ready to use.

When Lumpy opened the front door, he saw that it was another nice day. The sun was casting its rays everywhere, and there were only a few white clouds against the blue sky. Lumpy stepped out of his house, closed the door behind him, and with a loud snuffle, went on his way to Cuddles' house.

The moose's walk was filled with one loud sniff after another. Lumpy rubbed his nose repeatedly with the side of his hand, but it just wasn't helping as much as he hoped it would. He could even pull out one of his handkerchiefs and wipe his nose as much as he could, and his sniffles still wouldn't stop. But he kept trying whatever he could - the only thing he wanted was to feel better.

Cuddles had just finished his breakfast and put his dishes in the dishwasher. Now the rabbit was sitting on the couch, wondering what to do now that he’d eaten. Soon he heard a knock on the front door, and got up to answer.

”Hey, Lumpy!” Cuddles greeted him.

”Hey, Cuddles,” Lumpy replied with a sniff, tilting his neck back as he did the latter action.

Cuddles then noticed that the end of Lumpy’s nose was bright red. “You feeling alright?”

Lumpy shook his head. “Ndo, dot really. I’b a little sick...” Another loud sniffle, followed by him rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.

”You know, I kind of figured that,” Cuddles mentioned. “Wanna come inside and rest?”

”Yes, please.”

Cuddles moved out of the way, and Lumpy stepped into the house. He took a few breaths through his nose, some audible, some not so much. But finally he was on the couch, rubbing his head gently.

”Sounds like you’ve got a cold, Lumpy,” Cuddles stated as he sat down next to him.

”Actually, it’s dot a code,” Lumpy replied. He sniffled again. “I‘d be sdeezidg bore thad sdiffling if I did...”

”Yeah, definitely,” said Cuddles. He knew how much having a cold made Lumpy sneeze, so he could understand why Lumpy said that.

”The truth is...” Lumpy pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his nose with it. “I’ve cobe dowd with this terrible case of the sdiffles.“ He blew his nose once, briefly and quietly.

”Oh, that’s too bad,” Cuddles said. Lumpy nodded in agreement as he wiped his nose again.

”Yeah. But the terrible part is,” Lumpy went on, “that when I talked to Sdiffles about it, he told be I actually had the chrodic sdiffles.”

Cuddles looked at him, eyes wide with disbelief. “What... Does that mean what I think it means?”

Lumpy sulked, pulling his handkerchief away from his nose. A small amount of tears were forming in his eyes, but he wasn’t going to cry. “I’b goidg to sdiffle all day ad dight, for who kdows how mady days.”

”Oh, my gosh...” Cuddles looked at him in sympathy. “That’s terrible. I’m so, so sorry, Lumpy.”

”Be too.” Lumpy gave another sniffle, then wiped the tears from his eyes with his hand. “It’s dot buch fud, as you cad tell. I’d say it’s ndo fud, but ndobody wadts to hear that or say that...”

“It’s fine, I get what you mean,” Cuddles replied. “You want me to take care of you?”

Lumpy snuffled once more, placing his forefinger underneath his nose. “As dice as that sounds, I was actually hoping you could keep be cobpady today.” He rubbed his nose a few times with that same forefinger. “I spedt yesterday with Giggles, so today I thought you should be dext.”

”Sure, Lumpy,” Cuddles said. “As long as it helps you feel better, I'll let you hang out with me.”

Lumpy smiled. "Thadk you, Cuddles." Another sniffle.

"And by the way..." Cuddles added, "Toothy might come over to hang out with me, too. I'm not sure if he is, but if he is, we'll both hang out with you."

"Sounds good." Lumpy kept his smile, even as he gave another snuffle.

The moose and his friend stayed on the couch for a few minutes, both of them wondering what to do first. Suddenly Lumpy remembered something that he’d done yesterday, as well as something he’d forgotten to tell Cuddles.

”Ad Cuddles?“ Lumpy started.

”Yeah?

”You kdow how the sdiffles dod’t really bake you sdeeze, right?” Lumpy asked. He paused until Cuddles nodded his head. “Well, by sdiffles dod’t bake be sdeeze, either. I cad still sdeeze, but whed I do, it’s really quiet.”

”How quiet?” Cuddles asked. “Is it like hearing Lotta sneeze?”

Lumpy nodded, then reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his tissues. “Yeah. Here, I’ll show you.”

Lumpy twisted one of the corners of his tissue into a point, and then placed it gently into his nostril. He began to move it around slowly, tickling his nose as he did so, until it started to twitch.

”Ah... Hah...” Lumpy pulled the tissue out of his nostril, then held it against his nose. He was going to sneeze. “Aaah... Choo!”

As Cuddles had mentioned, the sneeze wasn’t much different than Lotta’s sneeze - it was quiet and lasted for less than a split second. But it was cute, and Cuddles couldn’t help but smile.

”Bless you, Lumpy,” Cuddles said as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

”Thadk you.” Lumpy blew his nose into his tissue, then wiped it a few times. He then balled up the tissue and dropped it into a waste bin, which happened to be next to the couch.

”You know, you’re right,” said Cuddles, “you do sneeze awfully quiet. In fact, it doesn’t even sound like the Lumpy I know...”

Lumpy blushed a bit as he said that.

”But it’s alright,” Cuddles went on. “Besides, it was pretty cute and funny to hear. And if you have to make yourself sneeze, just go ahead and do it.”

Lumpy smiled once more when he heard that. Just then, they heard a knock on the front door, so Cuddles stood up and went to answer it. When he opened the door, Toothy was there.

”Hey, Cuddles,” he greeted him. “Good morning.”

”Hey, Toothy,” replied Cuddles. “Why don’t ya come on in?”

Toothy did as he was told, and before long, Cuddles had brought him into the living room. As soon as they’d gotten there, however, Toothy saw Lumpy sitting on the couch, wiping his nose with his hand and sniffling away.

”Oh, hi, Lumpy,” Toothy greeted him.

”Hey, Toothy,” Lumpy replied.

”I wasn’t expecting you to be here, too,” Toothy stated. “But that’s alright. Except...” He looked over at Lumpy’s red nose, which Lumpy stopped rubbing. “Your nose looks kind of red.”

”Yeah, I kdow,” Lumpy said. He sniffled again. “I dod’t feel so good, but I’b puttidg up with it as best as I cad.”

”Well, I’m glad you’re coping with it,” Toothy said. “But what is it? A cold?”

”Ndo. Just the sdiffles,” said Lumpy. He pulled out one of his handkerchiefs and wiped his nose. “Except it’s dot your everyday sdiffles...”

He paused to cough a bit, and then groaned as he placed his handkerchief back over his nose.

”Let’s just say it’ll be bore thad a week before I feel better.”

Toothy looked quite worried, but Cuddles placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“It’s okay, we’ll help him feel better together.”

Toothy smiled, feeling more reassured now that his friend had told him that.

”Ad also, Toothy,” Lumpy went on, “I’b dot goidg to sdeeze frob the sdiffles. So bost of by sdeezes are probably gonna be caused by sobethidg else, or ibprovised...”

"You mean, like, faked?" Toothy asked.

Lumpy nodded, and then decided to demonstrate to him and Cuddles. He held his hands in front of his mouth, then he lowered his eyelids and improvised a buildup.

"Ah, aaah... Aaaah-- Tchoo!"

Cuddles and Toothy couldn't help but smile as they heard the sneeze, which they could tell wasn't real. Lumpy pulled one hand away from his nose and resumed wiping it with his handkerchief.

”You didn’t tell me you could do fake sneezes, Lumpy,” Toothy said.

”Yeah, well...” Lumpy gave another sniffle. “I suppose it’s by way of dealing with dot being sdeezy.”

”You know what, Lumpy?” Cuddles asked. “That was a pretty good fake sneeze. Could you do that some more?”

”Oh, sure.” Lumpy then gave two more fake sneezes into his handkerchief. “Ah-choo! Hah-choooo!”

Toothy couldn’t help but giggle at how amusing the sneezes sounded. Cuddles was chuckling a bit, too.

”Those do sound good!” Toothy mentioned as Lumpy wiped his nose again. “In fact, they don’t sound too different from your real sneezes.”

”Eved though they’re dot dearly as loud or big?” Lumpy replied, almost sounding like he was joking, and Toothy nodded. Lumpy blushed. “Gee, thadks, guys. You kdow, Giggles said the sabe thing whed I did this yesterday.”

“She did? That’s cool,” said Cuddles.

”I’m glad we’re not the only ones who like your fake sneezes,” Toothy replied, and Lumpy nodded in agreement.

Lumpy then gave another loud sniffle and leaned back on the couch. Cuddles left the living room for a moment, then came back with a large, warm blanket. He shook it out a few times to air it out, causing some dust to float into the air. The dust tickled his and Toothy’s noses and made them sneeze in unison.

”Hah-chu!” Cuddles‘ sneeze was uncovered while Toothy used both of his hands to cover his sneeze, but both of them were mild, spray-free and sounded cute.

Lumpy smiled in amusement. “Bless you, guys.”

“Thanks.” Cuddles and Toothy rubbed their noses; Cuddles used his arm, while Toothy used his forefinger.

Cuddles then showed the dark blue blanket to Lumpy and wrapped it around his upper body. He smiled, enjoying the feel of the blanket, but a tickle rose to his nose as well. Before he could react, he sneezed, too.

”Aaah-choo!” Lumpy doubled over briefly, then rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

”Bless you, too,” Toothy said with an amused chuckle.

”Yeah,” Cuddles agreed.

”Thank you,” replied Lumpy, still rubbing his nose. He sniffled. “Hey, Cuddles, how long has it been since you last used this blanket?”

”I’m not sure. Probably a couple of months,” Cuddles guessed. “Would explain why it was that dusty.”

”It’s alright,” Lumpy said. He pulled his forefinger away from his nose. “I’m sure it’ll help me more comfortable.”

Cuddles smiled reassuringly in response, as did Toothy. Lumpy brought his handkerchief back up to his nose and gave it a few more slow wipes.

”Well, Lumpy, now that you and Toothy are here, what would you like to do first?”

A sniff was Lumpy’s first response; then he folded up his handkerchief and placed it back in his pocket. “I suppose I’d like a few tickles... I mead, the kind that bakes be laugh, dot sdeeze.”

”Sounds good!” Cuddles replied. “How about I tickle you first?”

Lumpy thought about this, then nodded and brought his feet up for Cuddles to see. “Just dod’t tickle betweed by toes, please...”

"Okay, I won't."

Cuddles raised both of his hands for Lumpy to see, and then placed them directly on the soles of Lumpy's feet. Lumpy smirked when he did that, and then began to laugh as Cuddles began to move his fingers around.

"Hahahahaha, hahahahahahaha!"

Cuddles and Toothy both laughed a bit as well when they heard Lumpy's laughter. It sounded quite cute and amusing, even when he wasn't feeling well. Cuddles continued to tickle his feet, wiggling his fingers here and there.

"Hahahaha, it tickles! Hahahahaha!" Lumpy laughed.

"I know," Cuddles replied, almost jokingly.

"Can I tickle him, too?" Toothy asked.

"Sure!" Cuddles removed his hands from Lumpy's feet, and then moved out of the way. Toothy then walked up to Lumpy's feet, placed his forefingers on each of his soles and began to wiggle them up and down.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Lumpy's laughter started up again as he twitched his feet, wiggling his toes a bit as he did so.

Toothy moved his forefingers up to the arches of Lumpy's feet and tickled him there, which made him laugh particularly hard.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" And just like that, he was twitching his feet and toes even more.

After a few seconds, Toothy decided his friend had had enough. He pulled his hands away from his feet, and Lumpy began to pant, trying to catch his breath. He was blushing a bit, but the smile on his face told Cuddles and Toothy that he enjoyed the tickles as much as they did.

"Sorry if I tickled you a little too much, Lumpy," Toothy apologized.

"It's... it's alright..." Lumpy managed to say. Soon he caught his breath and finished panting. "I'm just glad you didn't use a feather."

He chuckled a bit, and both of his friends chuckled with him. Just then, Lumpy gave a loud sniffle; it sounded wet, and Cuddles and Toothy could see both of his nostrils widen.

"Uuugh..." Lumpy groaned as he sulked.

"Sounds like somebody could use a box of tissues," said Toothy.

Lumpy nodded in agreement as he rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. Cuddles left the living room for a moment, then came back in with a light green box of tissues. He placed it in Lumpy's lap.

"Here you go, Lumpy."

Lumpy sniffled again, then took one of the tissues and blew his nose into it. It was quite an audible blow, but it felt good. Lumpy smiled with relief as he wiped his nose with the tissue.

"Thanks, Cuddles," said Lumpy.

"Don't mention it." Cuddles smiled in return, and then got an idea. "You know, I bet a couple of sneezes could help you feel better."

"You think so?" Lumpy wiped his nose some more with his tissue.

"Well, sneezing from something is better than not sneezing at all," Toothy said in agreement. "Isn't it?"

Lumpy thought about this for a minute, and then nodded. "It is, sometimes.”

Cuddles looked around the living room for a moment, turning his head this way and that. Finally he saw a vase of flowers on one of the end tables. He walked over to it and pulled a single flower out - it was yellow in color and had a small amount of pollen coating it. Cuddles brought the flower over to Lumpy, who sniffled a couple of times as he watched the rabbit approach him.

"Why don't you sniff this, Lumpy?" Cuddles asked. He held the flower in front of Lumpy's nostrils, and he took a couple of slow sniffs.

"It sbells really good..." Lumpy mused, before his nose began to twitch. He pulled his face away, then moved his tissue up to his nose to cover his incoming sneeze. "Ah... Aaah..."

"Ah-choo! Hah-choo! Haaah-chu!" To Cuddles and Toothy's mild surprise, he didn't sneeze once, but three times, and in less than three seconds. The insides of his nose started to feel runny as well, but at least there wasn't any mucus dripping out of his nose.

"Ooh, bless you," said Toothy.

Lumpy rubbed his nose with his right forefinger. "Thank you." He blew his nose for one second into his tissue, then looked at it for a moment before he placed it aside. He pulled out another tissue and resumed blowing, before he wiped his nose cutely.

"Hey, guys?" Lumpy asked with another sniffle. "I suppose I wouldn't mind hearing you sdeeze, too..."

"You wanna have a little sneeze party with us?" Cuddles asked. Lumpy laughed a bit at his joke.

"That's a good wud, Cuddles. I guess that's what I meant..."

"In that case, we'll get it started." Cuddles moved the flower over to Toothy's face and rubbed it gently underneath his nose.

Toothy looked at him in curiosity, but otherwise didn't try to avoid the flower. Besides, he could already feel a sneeze coming on. When Cuddles pulled the flower away from his nose, Toothy raised both of his hands to his mouth and sneezed.

"Aaah-tchoo!" The sneeze sounded like one of Tails' sneezes from Sonic the Hedgehog - and neither he nor the Tree Friend who had released it sounded that similar. But it was a cute sneeze, and Lumpy giggled when he heard it.

"Bless you, Toothy," Lumpy said as Toothy rubbed his nose with his hand.

"Thanks. And excuse me."

Cuddles chuckled to himself, and then decided it was his turn to sneeze. He held his flower underneath his nose and took a good sniff, bringing some of the pollen from the flower into his nose. He moved the flower away from his nose before his breath hitched.

"Ah... Aaah... Aaaahhh-- Chooooo!!" Cuddles shot his neck forwards as he released the sneeze, and then rubbed his nose with his forefinger. Lumpy chuckled in amusement again.

"And bless you, Cuddles," said Lumpy.

"Thanks." Cuddles gave a light sniffle - far lighter than Lumpy's sniffling had sounded - before he pulled his forefinger away from his nose. "So now that we've all sneezed from this flower, what say we find some other things to sneeze from?"

"I suppose that'd be a good idea." Lumpy wiped his nose with his tissue, then balled it up and put it aside. He picked up his box of tissues and placed it aside as well, before he removed his blanket from his upper body and stood up from the couch.

"We'll have to be careful, though; I don't want to bake by dose sore..."

"Don't worry, Lumpy, I don't think that's gonna be a problem," said Toothy.

"Yeah," Cuddles agreed.

Cuddles then walked around his house for some more sneeze-causing irritants. Toothy and Lumpy followed him from behind, with the latter sometimes bringing his hand up to wipe his nose again.

Finally a mild tickle found its way into Cuddles’ nose. He looked over at what might have brought it, and saw the bookshelf. Quite a few books in it were covered with dust after so many days of not being used.

”Looks like this shelf needs to be dusted.”

”Yeah...” Lumpy replied.

As Cuddles pulled one of the books out, a small cloud of dust floated into the air. It was so close to Lumpy that his nose began to itch as well, and his nostrils flared up. He was going to sneeze.

”Ah... Aaah... Aaahhh-- Choo!”

The mild sneeze blew the dust away from Lumpy’s nose, which he then rubbed with his forefinger. But before either Cuddles or Toothy could bless him, the dust cloud got into Cuddles’ face, making his nose tickle even more. His eyelids lowered as he felt a sneeze coming on.

”Aaah... Haaah... HAAAAH-CHOO!!!”

Cuddles fired a rather loud sneeze right onto the book he was holding, causing a thicker cloud of dust to emerge and surround them. Cuddles, Toothy and Lumpy all began to sneeze from the dusty air.

”AH-CHOOO!! HAH-CHOOOO!! AHHH-CHOO!!!” Cuddles doubled over each time he sneezed, dropping the book the first time.

”HAH-CHOO!! Aaah... AAAH-CHOOOO!! AH-CHUU!!” Toothy covered his mouth with both of his hands every time he sneezed.

”Ah-choo!! Tchoo!! Tchew!! Hah-tchu!! Ehh-tchiuu!” And every one of Lumpy’s sneezes were small and quiet, the complete opposite of how he normally sneezed. “Aaachoo...!”

A few seconds of sneezes later, the dust had cleared. Lumpy and his friends stood where they were, rubbing their noses; Cuddles and Lumpy used their forefingers, but Toothy used his arm.

”Ugh... Bless you, guys.” Toothy sniffled.

”Thadks. And bless you,” Lumpy replied, forefinger under nose. His nose felt like it was one sneeze away from causing mucus to drip out of his nose. “Adywud got a tissue?”

Cuddles briefly went back over to the couch to retrieve the tissue box, then brought it back to Lumpy. He offered it to Lumpy, who took a tissue and blew.

”It’s kinda hard to believe how quiet all your sneezes are,” Cuddles mentioned, sniffling himself.

Lumpy blew his nose again, then wiped it with his tissue. “Yeah. I haven’t found adything that cad bake be sdeeze loudly so far. Dot eved pepper.”

”Really?!” Toothy sounded like he couldn’t believe it. “You’ve got to be kidding me...”

Lumpy nodded, but Toothy had already trailed off from another incoming sneeze. The beaver shut his eyes, inhaled and then exploded.

”Aaah, haaaah... Aaaah-AAAAHHHHH-CHOOOOOOO!!!”

”Ugh...” Toothy immediately rubbed his nose again, this time with his forefinger. “Sorry.”

”Bless you,” Lumpy said.

Cuddles gave Toothy a tissue, as if telling him the same thing. Toothy blew his nose rather cutely, and then wiped his nose.

”Thanks. I guess I’m a little allergic to dust...”

”It’s alright. I kdow how that feels.” Lumpy sniffled.

”I’ll just put this book away for now,” Cuddles decided.

He handed the tissue box to Lumpy, then picked up the book from the floor and brought it back over to the shelf. As he did so, he could feel another sneeze coming on from the dust.

”Hah... Haaah...” But to keep the sneeze from escaping Cuddles placed the side of his hand underneath his nose - he probably didn’t feel like just using his forefinger this time, Lumpy figured. It worked, and the urge to sneeze went away. Cuddles sighed with relief, but rubbed his nose with his hand to make sure the tickle had gone away. Then he pulled his hand from his nose and turned back to his friends.

”So, guys,” Cuddles started, “now that we’ve all sneezed from a flower and dust, what should we do now?”

"I'm not sure," Toothy mentioned.

"Yeah, me neither," Lumpy replied. Then he gave a quiet yawn into his hand, and sulked a bit with his eyes half closed.

"You alright?" Cuddles wanted to know.

Lumpy sniffled again, then rubbed his eyes gently with one of his hands. "I guess I'm a little worn out from sneezing so much. I think I could use a nap..."

Cuddles and Toothy both smiled at him, and then helped him back to the couch. Once Lumpy lay down on it, Toothy took his blanket and covered most of Lumpy's body with it. The only parts that the blanket couldn't reach were Lumpy's head and arms, but that was alright. The ill moose sighed in contentment as he made himself comfortable.

"Thanks for doing this for me, guys," Lumpy said with another sniffle.

"Don't mention it, Lumpy," said Cuddles. "You can sleep for as long as you need to - just let one of us know when you wake up."

"I will." Lumpy blinked a couple of times, but his eyelids soon fell shut. Cuddles and Toothy stood by his side, both watching him fall asleep.

"Let's go into my room for a little bit," Cuddles whispered to Toothy. "Maybe we can watch something on my phone."

"Sounds good," Toothy replied, also in a whisper.

The rabbit and beaver headed out of the living room and went up the stairs, leaving Lumpy alone on the couch. He could use a nap, after all, and besides, Sniffles had told him that a few hours of rest each day wouldn't hurt.


	6. Chapter 6

Once Lumpy had fallen asleep, he didn't feel like waking up. There wasn't anything that could wake him up, anyway; his friends were staying as quiet as they could for him.

While waiting for Lumpy to wake up, Cuddles and Toothy had done a few different things together. They'd watched the What Makes You Hic episode of Harvey Street Kids on Cuddles' phone, and Toothy had shown Cuddles some cute images he'd found on his own phone. One of these images was a drawing someone made of Tootie, who had just sneezed and was rubbing her nose with her forefinger, with someone off-panel telling her, "Bless you." It was quite adorable, even if neither Cuddles nor Toothy saw her sneeze beforehand.

After some time, Cuddles looked over at his alarm clock. It was about a half hour to noon.

"Hey, Toothy?"

"Yeah?" Toothy moved his head up to look at Cuddles.

"We've left Lumpy alone for quite a while," said Cuddles. "How about we go check up on him now?"

"All right."

Cuddles and Toothy made their way out of the bedroom, and then went back downstairs to see how Lumpy was doing. He was still laying on the couch, still sleeping.

"Hey, Lumpy?" Cuddles asked, gently. "Lumpy?"

Lumpy slowly opened his eyes when he heard the familiar voice. When his vision cleared, he could see that Cuddles and Toothy were close to him. Lumpy smiled.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them before he rubbed his eyes gently with his fist.

"Are you feeling any better?" Toothy wanted to know.

Lumpy's first response to that was a sniffle, followed by another. "I, I still have the sdiffles..."

"Yeah, I can tell," Cuddles replied.

Lumpy gave another sharp sniffle, and then groaned. Toothy reached into his pocket, pulled out a tissue and handed it to him. With a grateful smile on his face, Lumpy sat up in bed as he wiped his nose cutely with the tissue.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing," said Toothy, "and if you needed anything from us."

"Ndo, dot really," replied Lumpy. "Although I ab a bit bored..."

"Oh, you are?" Cuddles asked. He then tried to think of something he and Toothy could do with Lumpy together. "Hmm..." Just then, a thought came to him.

"Hey, Lumpy, have you ever been tickled while you've had your chronic sniffles?" Cuddles wanted to know.

"Actually, I have." Lumpy sniffled once. "Sdiffles tickled be once, ad Giggles..." He rubbed his nose slowly with the side of his hand.

"Both tibes they tickled be, it felt good. Except I had to tell theb to stop pretty quickly... I really cad't take as bady tickles whed I'b sick."

"Yeah, that's understandable," said Toothy. "It's kinda hard to handle being tickled when you're not feeling well, huh?"

Lumpy nodded in agreement. Just then, Cuddles moved over to the end of the couch. Lumpy raised an eyebrow when he saw him do this.

"Uh, Cuddles? What are you doing?"

"I think he's gonna tickle you," Toothy mentioned in a whisper. Lumpy looked a bit worried.

"Yeah, but don't worry, Lumpy; I'll go easy on you," Cuddles replied.

"Well, if you say so..." Lumpy kept his worried expression. He had the strangest feeling Cuddles wasn't being sincere when he said that...

Cuddles raised his hands to either of Lumpy's sides and began to move his fingers about. Almost immediately, Lumpy began to laugh, twitching around a bit as he did so. After a few seconds, Cuddles pulled one of his hands away, but then used the other hand to tickle Lumpy's belly. That made him laugh as well, a bit more audibly. About five seconds had gone by before Cuddles removed his hand, then looked down at Lumpy's feet. Lumpy could see a rather mischievous smile appear on Cuddles' face.

"No... please!" Lumpy begged, playfully.

But Cuddles reached down, grabbed onto one of Lumpy's ankles gently, and brought it up. With the forefinger on his other hand, he began to tickle Lumpy's foot. It was safe to say that Lumpy's reaction was instant.

"Hahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Lumpy laughed even harder than he had been earlier, and wiggled his toes cutely.

Cuddles smiled and continued tickling the moose, listening to his laughter as he did so. Toothy, on the other hand, stood where he was as he watched. A few seconds went by, and then Cuddles removed his hand. Lumpy sat where he was, panting repeatedly. He was also blushing in slight embarrassment.

"O-oh, my..." Lumpy said to himself with a sniffle.

"How was that?" Cuddles asked with a chuckle.

"It wasd't too bad," Lumpy stated. "But do you suppose I could tickle you guys, too?"

Cuddles and Toothy took a minute to think about that, looking at each other as they did so.

Lumpy gave another sniffle. "You're dot worried about catchidg by sdiffles, are you?"

"No, not really," Cuddles asked.

"Well, I might be..." Toothy admitted.

But Lumpy smiled at him reassuringly. "I'll be gedtle. I probise." He wiped his nose slowly with the back of his hand.

Toothy smiled as well. "Well, alright. A few tickles from you can't hurt. Right, Cuddles?"

Cuddles nodded, and Lumpy raised both of his hands for his friends to see. He placed one hand on Cuddles' ribcage, the other hand on Toothy's ribcage. He began to move his fingers around, which caused both of them to laugh.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!"

Lumpy smiled and continued tickling them, moving his hands downward slightly.

”Hahahaha, Lumpyhyhyhy!! It tickles!! Hahahahahahahaha!” said Cuddles.

”I-it does! Hahahahahahahahahaha!!” Toothy agreed.

Lumpy couldn’t help but laugh along with them. Their laughter sounded quite cute, if not as much as his own. That being said, the moose decided to stop after about a minute. As Lumpy pulled his hands away from Cuddles and Toothy, they stood where they were, panting and trying to catch their breath.

”That... that was great,” Cuddles said, and Toothy nodded in agreement.

”It sure was,” Lumpy replied, giving another sniffle. This one sounded rather harsh. "...ugh..."

Cuddles reached into his pocket, pulled out a tissue and handed it to Lumpy. Lumpy blew his nose rather loudly into it, causing the edges to flutter around, and then wiped his nose. That being said, he had a grateful smile on his face.

"Th-thadks, Cuddles," said Lumpy. "You kdow, I thidk I could use adother sdeeze..."

"Oh, really?" Cuddles asked, and Lumpy nodded. Cuddles then thought to himself for a few seconds. "Hmm... What could we use to make you sneeze...?"

Just then, Toothy came up with an idea. "Why don't we use pepper?"

"Good idea. I'll be right back." Cuddles made his way out of the living room for a moment, and then came back with a shaker in his hand. Lumpy could tell that it was a pepper shaker, since it had the word "Pepper" on it.

"You ready for this, Lumpy?" Cuddles asked.

"Yeah, but I should probably warn you, this won't make me sneeze too awful loud," Lumpy pointed out. "But I guess that doesn't matter as long as it still makes me sneeze."

"Okay, thanks for the warning," said Cuddles. He then counted to three. "One... two... three."

With that, Cuddles turned the shaker upside down and applied five shakes of pepper to Lumpy's nose. Lumpy's reaction was instant; his eyes widened, his pupils shrunk, and his nose froze for a moment. Then it began to shiver as his eyelids lowered, and his nostrils began to flare up.

"Aaaaah..." Lumpy inhaled. He tilted his neck further and further backward, with Cuddles and Toothy watching in anticipation. "Haaaaaaah... Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh..."

"...Choo!" Lumpy shot his neck forwards as he gave a small sneeze, one that didn't even fire any spray from his mouth or mucus from his nose. But before either of his friends could bless him, another sneeze came, followed by a sneezing fit. "Tchoo!"

"Ah-choo! Hah-choo! Ntchoo! Chu! Aaah-chu!" Although none of these sneezes were Lumpy's usual loud sneezes, they still brought some pain to his throat. The moose could feel his eyes watering as well. "Haah-tchu! Aah-choo! Ah-chew! Ah-tchu! Hhchooo! Hhhah... Hhhh-hchoo!"

Lumpy then sulked as he rubbed his red nose with his forefinger. Cuddles and Toothy could clearly see a bit of mucus beginning to drip from his nose.

"Wow. Bless you," said Cuddles, amazed that Lumpy had sneezed as much as he did.

"Yeah. Bless you, Lumpy," Toothy said in agreement.

Lumpy gave a loud, wet sniffle, forefinger under nose. "Thadk you." He coughed a bit, then gave another sniffle. He needed to blow his nose. "Ugh..."

Lumpy pulled a tissue out from his box and blew his nose loudly. The force of the blow caused another cough to slip out, so he stopped and wiped his nose with that same tissue. Two more sniffles emerged from his poor nose.

"Are you okay, Lumpy?" Cuddles asked.

"Dot really..." Lumpy said. He sniffled some more, wiping his nose some more. "Those sdeezes could've felt better, but at least they were better thad dothidg. Thadk you for gettidg theb outta be."

"Don't mention it," said Cuddles.

Lumpy blew his nose again, this time into another tissue, before he resumed wiping his nose. He sighed quietly to himself.

"I dever thought I'd say this, but... I biss by loud sdeezes. They were way bore satisfyidg, eved if they wered't as cute..."

"Yeah. I know how you feel," Cuddles said.

"Me too," said Toothy.

Just then, an idea came to Lumpy. "Hey, guys? How would you like to hear sobe of by fake sdeezes?"

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Toothy replied.

"I haven't heard them in a while, anyway," Cuddles said in agreement.

"Okay." Lumpy nodded in understanding. He then sent his neck back and threw his hands over his mouth as he gave a fake sneeze. "Ah-choo!" A short pause followed, and he gave another sneeze. "Hah-choooo!"

Toothy chuckled in amusement. He couldn't help it, Lumpy's fake sneezes did sound pretty funny. "What's the matter, Lumpy, got a cold?" he asked, jokingly.

"Yeah... Haah-choo!" Lumpy released another fake sneeze, and then wiped his nose a few times with the back of his hand. "Excuse me. It's pretty bad... Ah-choo, ah-choo!"

Cuddles gave an amused laugh of his own as Lumpy went back to rubbing his nose. "Sounds like somebody could use some chicken soup, huh?"

Lumpy sniffled. "Are you being serious, or joking?" he asked.

"Both." Cuddles chuckled once more. "But really, if you want some soup, we'll make you some."

"Oh, ndo, thadk you," Lumpy said. "I'b dot hungry." He then twitched his nose a few times to make it look like he had to sneeze again.

"Aaaah... Aaaah... Aaaaaah-chooooooooooo...!"

He tried to make this next acted sneeze sound as much like his usual exaggerated sneeze as he could. But since he didn't try to make it loud, it just sounded ridiculous. Cuddles and Toothy laughed as Lumpy rubbed his nose again, this time with his forefinger.

"Gesundheit!" said Cuddles.

Lumpy smiled. "Thadk you." He blew his nose into another tissue, and then rubbed it against his nose.

"You know, Lumpy," said Toothy, "even if those sneezes aren't real, at least they're pretty funny!"

"Yeah." Lumpy gave a couple more sniffles, still wiping his nose with his tissue. As he finished, however, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, what time is it?"

Cuddles looked over at the clock on the wall. "About four thirty."

Lumpy pulled his blanket off himself, then sat up on the couch. He moved his box of tissues off his lap and then stood up.

"It's gettidg late. I should head hobe," said Lumpy. "But thadk you for keepidg be cobpady today, guys."

"You're welcome, Lumpy," Toothy replied with a smile.

"As long as it helps you feel better." Cuddles was smiling as well.

Lumpy headed over to the front door, but before he could place his hand on the knob, Cuddles made his way up to it as well. He placed his hand on the knob, turned it and pulled the door open for Lumpy.

"Here, Lumpy. I don't want to catch those sniffles," said Cuddles. "But I hope you feel better soon."

"Okay, thadk you," said Lumpy. "See you soon."

Lumpy then made his way out of the house, with Cuddles and Toothy waving goodbye to him as they watched him go.

As Lumpy walked, he kept on sniffling here and there. Sometimes he brought his hand up to rub his nose with it or his forefinger. A few minutes later, not long after he'd gotten home, a yawn escaped him. He had to bring his hand up to yawn into.

"I thidk I'll go to bed early todight," Lumpy said. "I deed by rest."

Lumpy made his way up the stairs, and then pushed the door to his room open. As he closed the door behind him, however, his nose began to feel runny again. He pulled one of his white handkerchiefs out, pinched his nose with it and blew. It felt quite satisfying.

"Looks like by sdiffles ared't gettidg ady better," Lumpy said as he wiped his nose, holding his hanky in both hands. "Maybe I'll stay hobe toborrow."

Lumpy folded up his used tissue and placed it on his dresser. Then he made his way over to his bed and crawled into it, pulling the covers over himself. He looked over at his pillow and pressed his hands against it to fluff it up. Luckily, he made sure to be as gentle as he can, so he wouldn't have to worry about any feathers coming out and tickling him or anything like that.

Satisfied, the moose lay his head upon the pillow. An occasional sniffle emerged from his nose as he looked up at the ceiling, but it was mostly quiet otherwise. Soon, a final yawn into his hand later, Lumpy's eyelids fell closed. As he drifted off into dreamland, Lumpy could hear the crickets beginning to chirp outside.


End file.
